Marathon Pundit: Barbour addresses social issues at CPAC

Monday, February 14, 2011

Barbour addresses social issues at CPAC

Barbour with Marathon Pundit and blogger
Midnight Blue Says at CPAC

There was a rift among attendees at last week's CPAC, not a deep one, but it involved whether fiscal issues should be the prominent focus of conservatives at the expense of social issues.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a CPAC speaker, does not believe the importance of social issues should be reduced within the conservative movement, telling LifeNews they do matter.

The governor said that, when it comes to abortion, "more people are pro-life than pro-abortion. Most Americans are in the middle. They don't want abortion on demand, federal funding for abortion or late term abortion."

More from LifeNews:

If he were to become president, Barbour said he would codify the Mexico City Policy into law to ensure American tax dollars are not used to fund groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. One of the Obama Administration's first actions after inauguration was to overturn the policy. Currently, the policy needs to be reinstated by each successive administration and codification would make the provisions of the pro-life Mexico City Policy permanent.

According to Barbour, as president he would nominate individuals to the Supreme Court who strictly interpret the Constitution, which includes the right to life for all Americans, including the unborn. Barbour expressed concern that four more years of an Obama Administration could yield more pro-abortion justices and make the court into a "driving engine for the Left."

On the issue of stem cell research, Barbour told LifeNews.com, "President Bush was right" in signing an executive order to prevent scientific research that requires the destruction of human embryos. Barbour noted the great success of adult stem cell research and believes more should be done to advance stem cell research that does not take human lives.

NOM Blog liked Barbour's CPAC address, which it quotes Barbour as saying:

"My first year as governor, my pro-life agenda was adopted by our Democrat-majority legislature, and Americans United for Life named Mississippi the safest state in America for an unborn child."