Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee served as lieutenant governor of Arkansas from 1993 to
1996, and as governor from 1996 to 2007. Gov. Huckabee is anti-choice.
“ description of Gov. Huckabee’s actionsa on choice-related issues and a selection of his
public statements on reproductive-health issues follows.
Preserving Roe v. Wade and a Woman’s Right to Choose

Despite a judge’s order to comply with federal law, Gov. Huckabee reportedly
refused to authorize a Medicaid payment for abortion services for a 15-year old
incest survivor, whose stepfather was brought up on criminal charges as a result
of the pregnancy.1 (The Hyde amendment prohibits the use of public funds for
abortion services, except when needed to save the life of the woman or when the
pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.)

Signed into law an abortion ban, which criminalizes some abortion services, with
no exception to protect a woman’s health.2

Signed into law a measure designed to give new legal rights to a pregnancy,
which are separate from the rights of the woman.3
Ensuring Access to Abortion Services
a

Signed into law a measure modifying existing law by requiring young women to
receive notarized parental consent prior to obtaining abortion care, even if they
come from a violent, abusive, or neglectful home.4

Signed into law a measure requiring women to receive a state-mandated lecture
prior to accessing abortion services and to wait after receiving the lecture to
obtain abortion services.5

Signed into law measures establishing choose life license plates which allocate
funding for anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers, many of which mislead,
misinform, harass, and intimidate women.6 When the law came under attack,
Gov. Huckabee attempted to circumvent a pending lawsuit by signing a law that
This profile omits actions taken as the lieutenant governor and other less pertinent actions.
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transferred authority for approving special license plates from the state
legislature to the Department of Finance and Administration.7
Preventing Unintended Pregnancy

Signed into law a measure that required health-insurance plans that provide
prescription-drug benefits to cover contraceptives equally, although the law
excluded coverage for emergency contraception. Additionally, the law granted a
broad exemption for religious employers, as well as a wide range of secular
organizations.8
Opposing Health-Care Reform

Stated in an interview that he thinks healthcare bill was shoved down the
throats of both Congress and the country, and that Republicans should work to
repeal it all and start over with a clean slate. 9 The Affordable Care Act greatly
improves women’s access to basic health care by ensuring coverage and
affordability of maternity care, family-planning services, and other reproductivehealth services.
In His Own Words


"If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe
that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a
prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido
or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it. 10
It might be for the last 35 years, we have aborted more than a million people
who would have been in our workforce had we not had the holocaust of
liberalized abortion under a flawed Supreme Court ruling in 1973. 11
Threatened Policy Actions

Supports a 20-week abortion ban.

Supports a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Notes:
2
Arkansas Governor Blocks Medicare [sic] Payment for an Abortion in Incest Case, New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/10/us/arkansas-governor-blocks-medicare-payment-for-anabortion-in-incest-case.html, 9/10/96.
2 S.B.612, 81st Leg., (AR 1997).
3 S.B.984, 85th Leg., (AR 2005).
4 H.B.1033, 85th Leg., (AR 2005).
5 H.B.1074, 83rd Leg., (AR 2001).
6 H.B.1020, 84th Leg., (AR 2003); S.B.76, 85th Leg., (AR 2005).
7 H.B.2485, 85th Leg., (AR 2005); Life News, http://www.lifenews.com/2003/11/13/state-221/, last
visited 4/16/15.
8 H.B.2618, 85th Leg., (AR 2005).
9 NewsMax, Huckabee: Obamacare Defeat Will Doom Obama's Re-election,
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/huckabee-obama-healthcare-court/2012/03/28/id/434163/,
3/28/12.
10 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/23/huckabee-dems-thinkwomen-cant-control-their-libido/
11 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/21/huckabee-likens-abortion-to-holocaust/
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