Early Thursday morning at CPAC, GOP hopeful Rick Santorum encouraged a crowd of young pro-lifers to continue to take a stand against abortion.
The event – hosted by Students for Life – was to be held in a tiny conference room, but became packed and steamy fifteen minutes before it began, forcing organizers to move attendees to the hallway where the crowd grew to more than 200 people. Several well-know pro-lifers spoke before Santorum arrived, including Mike Huckabee and Andrew Breitbart. And though they were well received by the crowd, Santorum’s arrival brought enthusiasm that eclipsed the rest.
After thanking the audience, he expressed pleasure to be among “all the young folks standing up against the tide, standing up for the truth, standing up for the values that made our country great.”
Santorum admitted that most Americans who say “God bless America,” and “In God We Trust” may sincerely mean it, but emphasized America’s great need for morality.
“God’s not going to bless this country if we do whatever we want to do and don’t assert His law, first and foremost among that is making sure we do our part and fight for all of human life,” he said.
He towed a hard line against abortion when he continued, “God in no way, in my opinion, would bless a country that kills 1.2 billion people every year.”
Santorum called the role of faith the “motivation” to do the right thing, but also called members of the audience to employ reason and facts when they interacted with people out on the street. “We are also a voice of reason,” he said, referring to the pro-life movement.
He brought a chuckle from the members of the crowd after he uttered, “Obviously, everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but they are not entitled to their facts.
“I don’t believe life begins at conception. I know life begins at conception,” he said to deafening cheers and applause.
He urged the audience to “use reason, use facts, use love and compassion” in order to spread the pro-life message.
“That is the greatest gift that we have; we have the truth,” he said. “We have evidence of that truth, and you keep standing for the truth, not just when it comes to life, but for all of God’s truth that made this country great.”
