Herman Cain Draws Fire from Rick Santorum on Abortion

Businessman Herman Cain, one of the leading Republican presidential candidates in polls at the state and national levels, is drawing fire from one his rivals -- former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania -- for comments he made about abortion.

Cain first told Piers Morgan in a CNN interview, I believe that life begins at conception. And abortion under no circumstances.

When Morgan asked Cain about exceptions for rape and incest, the candidate backed off his comment about abortion under no circumstances. Asked about if one of his family members was raped and impregnated, Cain told Morgan, No, it comes down to it's not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you're not talking about that big a number. So what I'm saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make.

Not me as president, not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn't have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue, added Cain.

"I can have an opinion on an issue without it being a directive on the nation, said Cain. The government shouldn't be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to social decisions that they need to make."

The comment generated heavy fire from Santorum, who released a statement on Thursday.

"Herman Cain said that he believes life begins at conception, but that it's up to the individual to decide whether or not to terminate that life, said Santorum. And I find it gravely troubling that Herman believes it's a life, but that he doesn't consider it a life worth fighting for. As the author of the partial-birth abortion ban and other pro-life pieces of legislation, this is the exact mentality myself and other true pro-life advocates fought against. In fact, Herman's pro-choice position is similar to those held by John Kerry, Barack Obama and many others on the liberal left. No, Herman, it is not 'whatever they decide.' This is an innocent human life. It is unconscionable for Herman to run for the nomination of the party that stands in defense of life while showing disregard for the sanctity of life. You cannot be both personally against abortion while condoning it -- you can't have it both ways. We must defend the defenseless, period."