Reacting to the flurry of stories about his abortion position, Herman Cain just tweeted, “I’m 100% pro-life. End of story.”
A well-connected Georgia Republican and social conservative e-mails that “To my knowledge he [Cain] is strongly pro-life. Not sure about the statement he made in the John Stossel interview, but my understanding is he [only supports exceptions for the] life of the mother only.”
I’ve looked a little more into Cain’s past statements about abortion and found a couple more things. One, he served as spokesperson for a group called America’s PAC. That group aired a radio ad with this narrative, “Today, one-third of African-American pregnancies end in abortion. Black babies are terminated at triple the rate of white babies. The Democrat Party supports these liberal abortion laws that are decimating our people. Democrats say they want our votes. Why don`t they want our lives?” in 2006. In an interview at the time with Fox News host Neil Cavuto, Cain defended the ads against criticism, saying, “It is designed to be a wakeup call for people to not just look at the party, but look at the candidates and the values they stand for. And that is what this is intended to do.”
But back in 1999, Cain still wasn’t comfortable with publicly discussing his views on abortion. Check out this excerpt from a National Journal article:
If he runs, Cain says he will advocate market-oriented reforms of health care and Social Security, plus a ‘’simpler and fairer’’ tax system. Each of these issues ranks high on the GOP’s economic agenda. But unlike many in his party, Cain opposes school vouchers for private schools and backs efforts only to ’’revisit,’’ not eliminate, affirmative action. He declined to give his position on abortion rights.
In the primaries, Cain’s moderate social stances could pose problems.