WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum Sunday stood by his remarks linking prenatal healthcare to abortions.
Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Santorum said pregnant women who receive government-financed checkups are often urged to get an abortion if the exam turns up a possible defect in the unborn fetus.
"The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions," said Santorum, who added that he did not oppose all prenatal care nor procedures covered by private insurance.
Santorum used his premise to take a swipe at President Obama and link his support for abortion rights to a supposed disdain for the disabled. "Well," he said, "the president supported partial-birth abortion and partial-birth abortion is a procedure used almost exclusively to kill children late in pregnancy when they've been found out to be disabled."
