I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two bona fide businessmen running for the GOP nomination for President of the United States have decided not to sign a so-called Pro-Life pledge that is more designed to force candidates to conform to SBA’s apparent “affirmative action agenda” than it is to confirm their Pro-Life status.

This issue came to a head yesterday when SBA List called out the two Republican candidates in the pages of Politico and has the interwebs a buzz with so-called conservatives accusing the two of wavering on their Pro-Life stance for not signing the pledge. Nothing could be further from the truth, in my opinion, and if the goal of the pledge was to identify a candidates Pro-life status it would have simply asked that question and been done with it… it did not.

What this pledge does do is demand and then lock-in candidates to hire and appoint only those people who meet a certain criteria over those who are the most qualified for the job. I don’t know about you, but to my mind, this is a form of affirmative action and is not a conservative position, it’s unfair, and Un-American.

The pledge required the following:

* Only nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal bench judges who are committed to restraint and applying the original meaning of the Constitution, not legislating from the bench;

* Select pro-life appointees for relevant Cabinet and Executive Branch positions, in particular the head of National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health & Human Services, and the Department of Justice;

* Advance pro-life legislation to permanently end all taxpayer funding of abortion in all domestic and international spending programs, and defund Planned Parenthood and all other contractors and recipients of federal funds with affiliates that perform or fund abortions; and

* Advance and sign into law a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.

There is also a separation of powers issue that Cain sited today:

Cain has said he opposes abortion and that he supports cutting funds for Planned Parenthood.In a statement issued Saturday, Cain said his respect for the separation of powers prevented him from signing. “[T]he fourth requirement demands that I ‘advance’ the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation,” the statement said, adding that Cain remains “a consistent and unwavering champion of pro-life issues.”

Look, I understand SBA List’s motivation here but their execution was way off, in my opinion, and I think the candidates that rushed to sign this pledge, politicians all, have locked themselves into bad policy right from the get go… if they think this wont come back to haunt them, should they win the White House, they have another thing coming. Of course, they have the option of doing what most politicians do once they get elected and ignore the pledge but that’s not going to win them any points either.

Not signing this pledge does not make one less Pro-Life, it does however prove a couple of things…
1) You don’t support any form of affirmative action!!!

2) That your smart enough to know this will be used as club to beat you over the head with if you hire or appoint someone who is not pro-life or thinks the issue isn’t black or white.

Cross-Posted from The Minority Report