Newt Gingrich - Abortion
Last Updated: Jan 10, 2012
Summary
Congressman Gingrich is pro-life. In a 2005 interview, Congressman Gingrich stated that abortion should be illegal, but was unsure about how to enforce that provision. He stated that punishing doctors who perform the procedure was preferable to punishing women who have an abortion.
In 1995, Congress put forth an amendment in response to Clinton administration actions that defined an abortion in response to rape or incest as medically necessary that allowed each state to opt out of this provision and decline funding. While Congressman Gingrich stated that he himself supported funding for cases of rape or incest, he supported the amendment.
In 2011, Congressman Gingrich supported an Ohio law that made abortions illegal after a detectable heart beat is present. His campaign literature for the 2012 Presidential election states that he supports reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, supports cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, and opposes federal funding for abortion.
While in office, Congressman Gingrich twice voted in favor of the partial birth abortion ban.
In December of 2011, Congressman Gingrich signed the Personhood USA pledge. This pledge indicates that the signee does not support the exceptions for rape and incest.
Abortion Funding for Rape/Incest Victims
The Hyde amendment states that federal funding for abortion cannot be used for abortion unless the abortion is medically necessary. In 1993 the Clinton administration made move to define the cases of rape and incest as medically necessary. House Republicans put forth an amendment to allow states to decline funding for abortions in the case of rape and incest. On March 2, 1995 Congressman Gingrich was quoted as supporting the amendment.
This is not an issue which is going away. Each side of the issue will try to find their best advantage in bringing it up. All we can do is try to find a common ground to hold ourselves together while we have the debate.
The actual wording of the amendment is identical to existing statutes and clarifies congressional intent, allowing but not requiring states to pay for abortions. I support the Istook amendment.
On April 9, 1995 Congressman Gingrich appeared on "Face the Nation" and noted that he supported funding for an abortion in the cases of rape, incest, and to protect the health of the mother.
No. First of all, I think you should have funding in the case of rape or incest or life of the mother, which is the first step. ...
My personal view is that this is a country which is pro-choice but anti-abortion. There are remarkably few Americans who favor abortion as a contraception or who think of abortion as a trivial matter. And so I think we can have a pretty large area of civil discussion without it breaking down into automatic hostility."
American View Interview
In 2005, Congressman Gingrich was interviewed by American View to discuss his book "Winning the Future." In that interview, they discussed abortion.
L: Since your book is titled “Winning the Future,” and nations who kill their children have no future, literally, I was surprised that you had nothing to say in your book about abortion which is, I think, the premier moral issue in our country.
G: Abortion is a very, very important moral question and I think it’s a very important question about the very nature of society. And I think that in terms of voting on the issue and speaking on the issue I’ve been pretty clear in my entire career. I did cite at the beginning of the book, that I think that people who are not certain how they feel about “right to life,” have in fact been coming our way. And that was the issue on what do you do if somebody killed the baby while they are attacking the mother? Does that mean that the person attacking is potentially charged with two crimes, again the Lacy Peterson kind of case. Literally something like 86%- 88% of the people agree that in that kind of circumstance, the person has indeed killed a baby and that’s a very important discussion point to include in the discussion of the culture of life.
L: Well, I think that one of the things that really did surprise me about your basically saying nothing about abortion, was that it would have easily fit into chapter 4 about “out of control courts.” But there was no mention made in that chapter even though Roe vs. Wade was the most out of control, controversial case in modern times, maybe ever, which resulted in the killing of more than 40 million innocent, unborn babies since 1973. So, it would have seemed like a good place to mention abortion, in chapter 4.
G: I think you can make the argument that there were a number of cases involving “right to life” which could have gone into that chapter. I don’t disagree with that.
L: Sure. You think abortion should be a crime?
G: (Pause) I think that abortion should not be legal, and I think that how you would implement that I’m not sure.
L: OK, I’m not sure what that means —- it should not be legal. Would you make it a law that would consider it a crime to perform an abortion, or for a woman to have one? Should there be any legal protection for the unborn as far as you’re concerned?
G: There should be. And I think the focus has been on doctors performing abortions. And in that sense that we want to move the society as rapidly as we can that people should select adoption rather than abortion and that choosing abortion is not acceptable.
Support for Ohio Heartbeat Law
In May of 2011, Congressman Gingrich announced that he was supporting an Ohio law that would make it illegal to obtain an abortion after a heartbeat was detectable.
Personhood USA Pledge
In December of 2012, Congressman Gingrich signed the Personhood USA pledge. The pledge is shown below and indicates that a person does not support the exception for rape and incest for abortions.
I stand with President Ronald Reagan in supporting “the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death,” and with the Republican Party platform in affirming that I “support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment protections apply to unborn children.”
I believe that in order to properly protect the right to life of the vulnerable among us, every human being at every stage of development must be recognized as a person possessing the right to life in federal and state laws without exception and without compromise. I recognize that in cases where a mother’s life is at risk, every effort should be made to save the baby’s life as well; leaving the death of an innocent child as an unintended tragedy rather than an intentional killing.
I oppose assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and procedures that intentionally destroy developing human beings.
I pledge to the American people that I will defend all innocent human life. Abortion and the intentional killing of an innocent human being are always wrong and should be prohibited.
If elected President, I will work to advance state and federal laws and amendments that recognize the unalienable right to life of all human beings as persons at every stage of development, and to the best of my knowledge, I will only appoint federal judges and relevant officials who will uphold and enforce state and federal laws recognizing that all human being at every stage of development are person with the unalienable right to life.
2012 Presidential Campaign Website Statements
PROTECTING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
"There is no liberty without religious liberty” – Newt Gingrich
The revolutionary idea contained in the Declaration of Independence is that certain fundamental human rights, including the right to life, are gifts from God and cannot be given nor taken away by government. Yet, secular radicals are trying to remove “our Creator” – the source of our rights - from public life. Newt has an aggressive strategy to defend life and religious liberty in America.
Principles to protect life and religious liberty
- Nominate conservative judges who are committed to upholding Constitutional limited government and understand that the role of the judges is to interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.
- Combat judicial activism by utilizing checks on judicial power Constitutionally available to the elected branches of government.
- End taxpayer subsidies for abortion by repealing Obamacare, defunding Planned Parenthood, and reinstating the “Mexico City Policy” which banned funding to organizations that promote and/or perform abortions overseas.
- Protect religious expression in the public square such as crosses, crèches and menorahs.
- Protect healthcare workers right to conscience by making sure they are not forced to participate in or refer procedures such as abortion.
- Protect the rights of home-schooled children by ensuring they have the same access to taxpayer funded, extra-curricular educational opportunities as any public school student.
- Protect the rights of teachers to use historical examples involving religion in their classroom. Nor should they be discouraged from answering questions about religion or discussing it objectively in the classroom.
- Protect the frail, infirm and the elderly from the state’s arbitrary decision to terminate life.
Voting Record
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
296-132. The legislation sought to prohibit any physician from knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother. Newt Gingrich voted in favor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Newt Gingrich voted in favor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
In March of 1997, the House passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act 295-136. The legislation did not have enough votes to overturn a veto. Newt Gingrich voted in favor of the Ban.
Newt Gingrich voted in favor of the Ban.
Sponsored and Cosponsored Legislation
This representative has not been identified as sponsoring or cosponsoring significant legislation related to this title.
References
[1] Website: The American View Article: Exclusive “American View” Interview: Newt Gingrich On Abortion, Homosexuality, Biblical Government; Author: NA Accessed on: 05/14/2011
[2] Website: SF Gate - NY Times Article: Gingrich Backs Abortion Funds For Rape, Incest Author: NA Accessed on: 05/14/2011
[3] Website: Philly.com Article: Gingrich Favors Allowing States To Refuse To Pay For Abortions The Plan Involves Cases Of Rape Or In Author: INQUIRER WIRE SERVICES Accessed on: 05/14/2011
[4] Website: Dayton Daily News Article: Gingrich, Bachmann, Judge Moore back “Heartbeat” bill; Speaker Batchelder seeks more input Author: William Hershey Accessed on: 05/14/2011
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