Santorum: Obama's Black, So He Should Oppose Abortion

(Newser) – Odd political comment of the day: Rick Santorum says he doesn't understand how Barack Obama, as a black man, can support abortion rights, reports Politico. In an interview with CNS television, the former GOP senator and potential 2012 candidate made the case that a fetus... More »

(Newser) – Odd political comment of the day: Rick Santorum says he doesn't understand how Barack Obama, as a black man, can support abortion rights, reports Politico. In an interview with CNS television, the former GOP senator and potential 2012 candidate made the case that a fetus is a person and criticized Obama for saying otherwise with his pro-choice views. "I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, ‘No we are going to decide who are people and who are not people.’”

The comment triggered lots of raised eyebrows—see New York's parsing of it here—and prompted Santorum to issue a clarification: “For decades certain human beings were wrongly treated as property and denied liberty in America because they were not considered persons under the constitution,” he writes. "Today other human beings, the unborn of all races, are also wrongly treated as property and denied the right to life for the same reason; because they are not considered persons under the constitution. I am disappointed that President Obama, who rightfully fights for civil rights, refuses to recognize the civil rights of the unborn in this country.”
 Less »