Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) on Wednesday laid out how he would tackle Planned Parenthood without the support of Congress if he were elected president.
When asked on about Iowa radio host Simon Conway about Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood after an anti-abortion group released numerous edited videos about the women’s health organization, Huckabee said he would use the Justice Department.
“I would have a Justice Department that would begin to criminally prosecute Planned Parenthood for violating federal law and selling body parts,” Huckabee told Conway.
Huckabee joins fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in calling for the Justice Department to prosecute Planned Parenthood after conservatives accused the organization of selling organs for a profit, a charge that Planned Parenthood has denied.
The former Arkansas governor also clarified how he would attempt to make abortion illegal as president.
“I would also invoke the 15th and Fourteenth Amendments,” he said on Wednesday. “This is the power that we have to stop this incredible, barbaric scourge of abortion. Not just stop funding Planned Parenthood, but we need to invoke the Fifth and 14th Amendment. The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process for every person. The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law for every person.”
Huckabee said that he believes that unborn children are people, guaranteeing them Fifth and 14th Amendment rights.
“I would take that position. I would act on behalf of those unborn children, and I would let those who want to slaughter babies, those who want to sell their body parts, let them sue me,” he said.
Huckabee made similar comments about invoking the Fifth and 14th amendments during the Republican presidential debate last week, and when asked in July, he did not rule out using the FBI or the military to stop abortions.
Listen to Huckabee’s remarks on the Simon Conway show via opposition research group American Bridge:
