Former Sen. Rick Santorum says it is surprising that the nation's first black president is willing to deny civil rights to fetuses.
Santorum, who is a potential Republican presidential challenger to President Barack Obama in 2012, linked civil rights with abortion during an interview posted Thursday with the Christian Broadcasting Network. Santorum, who lost his 2006 Senate re-election bid in Pennsylvania, is an outspoken critic of abortion rights.
Santorum notes that for decades, slavery allowed African-Americans to be treated like property. And he says fetuses are denied the right to life because they are considered property.
Santorum says he is disappointed that Obama, a former law professor, refuses to treat fetuses as humans under the Constitution.
