(CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry revealed a hardening in his stance on abortion Tuesday, telling a crowd in Iowa that he opposed abortions in all cases, including when a woman had been raped or the victim of incest.
Previously, Perry had not opposed the procedure in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother’s life was threatened.
Responding to a question about the change in position, Perry said, “You’re seeing a transformation.”
Perry told the crowd at his campaign stop that the decision came after watching a documentary on abortion produced by former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
“That transformation was after watching the DVD, ‘The Gift of Life,’” Perry said. “And I really started giving some thought about the issue of rape and incest. And some powerful, some powerful stories in that DVD.”
Perry said a woman who appeared in the movie who said she was a product of rape moved him to change his mind about abortion.
“She said, ‘My life has worth.’ It was a powerful moment for me,” Perry said.
Perry's abortion shift comes a week ahead of the Iowa caucuses, where socially conservative voters have long been a key voting block. Perry's campaign has made a number of other attempts to appeal to social conservatives, including television ads bemoaning the repeal of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and highlighting the candidate's strong Christian faith.
From CNN Politics
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Rick, kinda doesn't matter how many times you change your mind, depending on who's dumping money into your campaign. Ain't gonna happen, dude. Now cowboy up and go back to pick up the horse pucky in Dubya's back yard.
Sorry, but this guy is a serious idiot.
So Goodhair has experienced a "transformation." I wish he'd STFU and get back to his job in Texas and quit serving as a nationwide embarrassment for native Texans.
You know. I don't want a president to be swayed by a DVD. I want them to have built a core political philosophy around which decisions on the issues comes easy. So it doesn't appear that Rick has that inner strength. This adds weight to the allegations that he can be bought.
I find it sad that he would sink to this low to votes in Iowa. Why do conservatives feel they have the right to control things at this level? Is Rick Perry ready to pay for a woman who was raped to have a child, comfort her through the ordeal of bearing a child conceived in violence, and them adopt the child to raise as his own? If not, the low-life poloitical weasel should shut up and pay the price for being a moron throughout the campaign. Just being more of a mindless radical isn't a good method to gain political capital.
and they call mittens a flip flopper
So, if an otherwise healthy woman dies during a problem pregnancy caused by being raped, she's...what? Collateral damage? Wonder if he'd feel differently if it was his wife or daughter?
How disrespectful to women – and how pandering to voters! Tell me he would watch his wife or his daughter die of complications due to pregnancy just for a few votes. That's disgusting and I'm sure every resident of Iowa sees right through it.
Further endearing himself to women voters, I see. As opposed to the one woman in the video, how many other millions of women's lives have been ruined by pregnancies brought about by rape or incest? Where are the men responsible?
Perry is just saying that because he just have many brains.
Here we go again, another flip-flop GOP baffoon saying " you're seeing a transformation"
Well I call it pandering. This guy can't even get the paperwork right to be on the Va. primary ballot and he wants to
rewrite the tax code and run our country? I think not Mr. Perry. Go back to Tx. finnish your term and go away.
I thought Gw Bush was not a smart man but, you take the cake.
What a crock! For all you pro lifers, I offer the following solution: put your names in a register that can be used after a woman who is pregnant as a result of incest or rape, who does not wish to bear the child, so your name can be selected at random to accept the responsibilty of raising that child. But no! Force that woman to raise a child she did not ask for, because she was diddled by Grandpa, or attacked on the street (oh, wait I forgot that women who are raped are raped because they "asked for it"). Of course Perry realizes we're going to need lots of cannon fodder for the wars he and his ilk are contemplating.
Perry said a woman who appeared in the movie who said she was a product of rape moved him to change his mind about abortion.
“She said, ‘My life has worth.’ It was a powerful moment for me,” Perry said.
How many people has he executed as Governor of Texas ?
Perry is such a sensitive guy , must feel badly about the thought of possibly executing an innocent man .
Absolutely barbaric. Religion is not part of the public agenda. Our fore-mothers and fathers saw to it when they usurped this land in the name of freedom. How can a person of faith hold such a position while executing mentally ill prisoners?
Sometimes there aren't enough shoes to throw.
Why does Perry think he needs to pander to the Teavangelicals? His advisers need to be fired. On the other hand, the last thing we need is another Perry rise, so keep up the good work, Perry.
Flip-Flop-Flip-Flop
"Strong" "Christian" "faith", more like it.
Back to the abortion debate? A sure sign the economy is improving.
Obama 2012 – For those who think intelligence matters.
Gettin' a little desperate there, Rick? Perry has been tossing out extreme positions like Mardi Gras beads, looking for something that resonates with the Iowa caucusers. And it will do him no good; the voters want a little authenticity and a bit of intelligence, and Perry is slap out of both.
Rick Perry is not intelligent enough to be much of anything. However, in Texas, you can be a "lame louie" and go far.
A cynical move by a desparate also ran.
So Perry supports religious tyranny? This is not a quality I want in a President.
GOP 2012 slogan – Smaller government in the boardroom, but not in the bedroom.
Rick Perry Is Brain dead. He Is very close to being Insane.
idiot. Mr. Perry keeps trying to sell his soul to conservative republicans, but even they know a brown-noser for votes when they see one. Wish he'd consider coming back to Texas and fixing some of the messes he's left our state to deal with in his absence.
not accepting comments on this story?
I cant believe people buy into this stuff...what is he going to say during the general election or even in texas the next time he runs?
GOP/Tea Party presidential candidates like Perry are pandering so much to religious social conservatives that they cannot move towards the center to attract moderates and independents in the general election.
The idea that someone would stop all abortions is foolish. Who knows how necessary they could be to save a woman's life. Perry isn't pro-life. He is pro-birth because he is for the death penalty. We should work to the day were abortion isn't really an issue because they happen so infrequently that people are n't sure as to what they are. Until that day, they should remain legal and safe.
When candidates openly use religious belief and faith as means to get " improve thier prospects" of getting elected or voted for; i feel shamed by the voters who ask for confirmation thier specific religious belief has to be law and appalled at candidates who do this kind of perry flip flop.The right to decide on this issue rests primarily with the child bearer, and may be husband and everyone else should "butt out" especially the Law. Repeal Roe vs Wade an replace it with nothing.
Repealing DADT, does not mean Gays and lesbians etc will cease to exist.
If we are all born equal we have equal rights to anything.
Regards,
Hodgson
OMG – we're really in trouble now – Woman must submit and truly bow – Down to the almighty far-RIGHT candidates who feel they rule us but will fall – Because they want to take us back to that century when women had NO rights at all!!
It will NEVER happen today, tomorrow or tonight – It will NEVER happen because Women have Rights!!
Obama 2012!!
Well you just lost all hope of ever getting elected to anything...now you attack women's rights...sad...what goes on with these rightwing men telling women what they cannot do..thought this was a FREE country.
Opposing abortion even in cases of rape on incest places one squarely in the "wacko zone". Popular with only religious zealots and the most heartless human beings, and the distrubingly too common combination of the two.
This is the same guy who allowed a Texas man to be executed despite new, expert evidence that the fire he allegedly set which killed his three daughters, was an accidental fire, not arson. The nation's top fire science experts reviewed all the evidence and unanimously concluded, based on the best science, which had advanced considerably since the trial years before, that the fire was not intentionally set. Perry refused a pardon, simply arguing that the defendant was "a bad man." Didn't know we executed people in this country on that basis. Hard to square his so-called reverence for life with his decision to not even delay the execution of Charles Willingham.
I bet his tune would change quickly if it was his wife or daughter that was raped and impregnated.
He spoke the truth.
I oppose all idiots.
So if a woman has an ectopic pregnancy (a fertilized egg implants outside the womb), Parry would say she can't have an abortion and must instead risk her life while waiting to miscarry, hoping that when she does, she doesn't die in the process? Even if this woman has three other children at home under the age of 7?
Parry and his "pro-life" nonsense are the height of hypocrisy!
Newsflash, Parry: When a woman/girl becomes pregnant as a result of rape or incest (which is rape by a family member), or her pregnancy puts her in immediate danger of dying, what she chooses to do with her body is NONE OF YOUR FREAKIN' BUSINESS!
When does it stop that men believe it can decide what is right for a woman. Perry has a right to his opinion but it should stop there!!
This absolutist stance on the issue may win him cheap support in the GOP Primaries, but it's only going to repulse independents and liberals in the general elections (If Perry were to get lucky enough to get that far). It's much better to take a wishy-washy stance such as Romney rather than the polarizing stance such as frothy-lube-man, Santorum.
Tough topic, both sides present strong arguments. Perry showed flexibility in this 'transformation' but is not a woman and lacking that empathy to exclude everyone from a single DVD is scary.
Another example of a politician trying to say whatever they can to garner more votes. Sad...and the catch is that it won't work Rick. Your candidacy was toast from the onset.
In other news the Perry campaign accused Mitt Romney of saying anything to get elected.
I'm sure he has FIVE reasons..
Abortion should be opposed in all cases cos its deadly.
Perry will do anything to get elected. Also a flip flop. Also opposing any abortion no matter what the reason. But he don't hesitate on executing poor people who don't have good legal representation. Have you heard of any rich Texans getting executed. God save America from the Republican idiots. In Jesus name I pray.
Jethro has gone off the deep end.
has he ever been raped? its fine if he chooses to never have an abortion personally. no man can ever say they know what they would really do if faced with this situation. only women should have a say in this matter. this is another reason he will never make it...
Pander much?
“You’re seeing a transformation.”
No, I'm seeing a pandering clown recognize that he's going to be going home in about 3 weeks.
Next he will be advocating that rape victims marry their rapists like in Afghanistan.
Panderer to the nth degree. Never met an issue he wouldn't manipulate to get votes.
I am a Republican and I never thought I would agree with James Carville but this is the most pathetic group of candidates of my lifetime. I am voting for Romney because he is most electable. I would like a Romney-Rubio ticket.
Congrats inbreeders, you've found your champion.
Im nominating Rick Perry for Whitehouse Janitor in 2012! Who's with me!
This is ridiculous. Of course that woman's life has worth, but that's unrelated to the issue of abortion. If abortions become illegal,, they'll just become black market. They'll be less safe and there will be more injuries to mom. This guy is scary.
He's a very scary man.
Notice CNN did articles on four candidates, none of which are Ron Paul. Yet they add three candidates that didn't even qualify for VA. Two of which aren't even close to Paul's poll numbers. CNN, you're not going to decide who we vote for. Get over it! SAY NO TO STATUS QUO!
We voted this guy off the island right?
The scent of cynicism hangs heavy in the air...
When lies become truths. Why is it ok to abort the lives of 18 yr olds in wars based on fabricated facts? Why are those abortions OK Gov. P.Rick?
“You’re seeing a transformation.” This guy is unbelievable! He is the epicenter of uneducated, gullible, childish decision making ever seen! (Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum very close behind!) The GOP/TP has no problems with spouting all there “against live” policies and stands. But abortions – they just seem to be obsessed with that “conception”! The whole bunch – disgusting!!!
Rick Perry is the only GOP candidate dumber than "dubya". I thought Bachmann was the bottom of the barrel, but her position has been taken by Perry.
My first first
Easy for him to say. He'll never be raped or become pregnant from being raped. Nor will he ever face dying because of a pregnancy. Idiot !!!!!!!! All the Republican candidates are idiots, except Huntsman, and he doesn't stand a chance with The Tea Party in control of the Republican party.
I'm sure Rick Perry would say he thinks the moon is made of green cheese if he thought it would make people want to vote for him.
Can you say..................pander? Perry by all accounts has the largest campaign warchest. I wonder how all those contributors feel about their largess now?
Is there any way to let Texas leave the union and take all its neanderthals, nitwits, gun nuts, racists, fundamentalist nutjobs and ignorant yahoos with it? And especially the "religious" governor who has innocent men murdered?
If only you were more like perry the platypus, and worked to help people.
What a joke! Another hypocrite before our eyes!!
What if the father rapes his daughte3?, brother rapes his sister? His change in any position for me doesn't mean anything as the all bunch of kids.
Lets make this short and sweet, women are using abortion clinics as a form of birth controlle, if u dont have enough common sense to get condoms or to the clinic where they give FREE birth controlle keep your leggs closed! these babies that doctors and women are murdering have feelings when they are ripped from the womb. And yes they are murdering these innocent babies who dont have no way to speak out, it is against the law to kill and that should abide for the doctors who think they have a lisense to kill! "From one woman to many."
Who needs someone who flip-flops on issues? Rape and incest are not someone's choice...the victims of these crimes should have the choice to steer their life in whatever direction they choose, including abortion. Next the government will put limits on hysterectomys (only in life threatening situations) because women should bear children....get the religous/personal beliefs out of politics!