Bachmann Campaign Press Release - Gingrich Offers Glimpse on True Stance on Life

Rock Hill, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has issued the following statement in response to Newt Gingrich's comment that life begins at implantation during his interview with ABC's Jake Tapper:

"Newt Gingrich stated today that life begins at implantation not at conception. But those who are truly involved in the life issue know that life begins at conception. Additionally, the former Speaker's description of the life issue as 'practical' is a rejection of the most sacred principle that each and every life has value, a principle recognized by our founders in the Declaration of Independence of the most basic right with which every human is endowed. This along with his inconsistent record on life is just one more indication that Newt is not dedicated to protecting the lives of the unborn and doesn't share the most basic of conservative principles.

"While Newt has presumptively declared himself the nominee, I believe the people of Iowa and all Americans will reject any candidate who fails to understand when life begins and that protecting it is the top priority for conservatives. I'll always side with life. I signed the Susan B. Anthony pledge and believe that my word means something. That's why I have fought to protect life from conception until natural death. And as president, I'll defund Planned Parenthood and make sure that not one dime of taxpayer money goes to pay for abortions here in the United States or internationally."

Transcript of Newt Gingrich interview with ABC's Jake Tapper:

TAPPER: Abortion is a big issue here in Iowa among conservative Republican voters and Rick Santorum has said you are inconsistent. The big argument here is that you have supported in the past embryonic stem cell research and you made a comment about how these fertilized eggs, these embryos are not yet "pre-human" because they have not been implanted. This has upset conservatives in this state who worry you don't see these fertilized eggs as human life. When do you think human life begins?

GINGRICH: Well, I think the question of being implanted is a very big question. My friends who have ideological positions that sound good don't then follow through the logic of: 'So how many additional potential lives are they talking about? What are they going to do as a practical matter to make this real?' I think that if you take a position when a woman has fertilized egg and that's been successfully implanted that now you're dealing with life because otherwise you're going to open up an extraordinary range of very difficult questions.

TAPPER: So implantation is the moment for you.

GINGRICH: Implantation and successful implantation. In addition I would say that I've never been for embryonic stem cell research per se. I have been for, there are a lot of different ways to get embryonic stem cells. I think if you can get embryonic stem cells for example from placental blood if you can get it in ways that do not involve the loss of a life that's a perfectly legitimate avenue of approach. What I reject is the idea that we're going to take one life for the purpose of doing research for other purposes and I think that crosses a threshold of de-humanizing us that's very very dangerous.