Santorum Compares His Fight against Marriage Equality to Lincoln’s Against Slavery

Ariela Fleisig — October 18, 2011 – 1:00 pm | Domestic Policy | GOP Presidential Candidates 2012 Comments (1) Add a comment

Former Senator and 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum issued a statement yesterday appallingly comparing his relentless attacks on marriage equality to former President Abraham Lincoln’s fight against slavery.

Santorum said:

I have been a long-time advocate for states’ rights. However, I believe as Abraham Lincoln did - that states don’t have the rights to legalize moral wrongs. Mr. Cain, Congresswoman [Michele] Bachmann and Governor [Rick] Perry all believe 50 different definitions of marriage is fine, I strongly disagree and will continue fighting for traditional marriage between one man and woman.

Santorum signed in July an extraordinarily offensive pledge from Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader that insensitively compared childrearing by single parents and same-sex couples to slavery. In his statement, he brandished a few more of his anti-equality credentials:

Senator Santorum is one of the original sponsors of the Federal Marriage Amendment and the nation’s leading advocate for the traditional American family. As a presidential candidate, Senator Santorum proudly signed the National Organization for Marriage’s ‘Pro-Marriage Pledge,’ which Mr. Cain refused to sign. Last fall, Senator Santorum was the only 2012 presidential contender to travel to Iowa and campaign in opposition to Iowa State Supreme Court Justices who decided to take it upon themselves to redefine marriage.

According to Think Progress’ Igor Volsky:

Santorum is expected to go after Cain on the marriage question during Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate in Las Vegas, but previewed his new push at the Values Voter conference in Washington, DC last week, where he pledged to ‘fight in every state to make sure that marriage remains between one man and one woman’ if elected president.

Click here to read Volsky’s full article.

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