--- title: Huckabee: Abortion Like Terminating Elderly Parents description: "If we teach the generation coming after us that it’s okay to terminate a human life because it represents a financial hardship or social disruption, what are we telling them?" canonical: https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-13T12:24:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:45:01.184Z article:section: Politics og:title: Huckabee: Abortion Akin To Terminating Elderly Parents og:description: "If we teach the generation coming after us that it’s okay to terminate a human life because it represents a financial hardship or social disruption, what are we telling them?" og:url: https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84556becda613007/69868543adae442319541f00/150989677.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: mike huckabee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Huckabee: Abortion Akin To Terminating Elderly Parents twitter:description: "If we teach the generation coming after us that it’s okay to terminate a human life because it represents a financial hardship or social disruption, what are we telling them?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84556becda613007/69868543adae442319541f00/150989677.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Huckabee: Abortion Start Of Slippery Slope To Euthanasia by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 13, 2014 12:24 PM UTC  Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FloridaMCT / Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 13, 2014 12:24 PM UTC When speaking at a gala funded by pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List Wednesday night, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee posed a question: if Americans condone abortion, then could the next step be killing people at the end of their lives for the sake of convenience? Huckabee named financial and social hardships as a popular justification for abortions, [Politico reported](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/mike-huckabee-abortions-104616.html), and said the very same justification could be used for ending the life of an elderly parent who has become a burden. “If we teach the generation coming after us that it’s okay to terminate a human life because it represents a financial hardship or social disruption, what are we telling them?” Huckabee asked. “We’ve already given them the full capability to take us out. Now, I’m not going to make it that easy for my children to get rid of me.” Huckabee, who has an [eye on a 2016 presidential bid](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-mike-huckabee-eyeing-a-2016-presidential-bid/), said it was essential for the Republican Party to remain focused on opposing abortion. “This is not an issue that we should abandon,” [he said](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/200660-huckabee-opposing-abortion-how-we-win-elections), continuing: “…That’s not how we lose an election, that’s how we win elections and it’s how we save this republic.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/"},"headline":"Huckabee: Abortion Start Of Slippery Slope To Euthanasia","datePublished":"2014-03-13T12:24:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:45:01.184Z","description":"\"If we teach the generation coming after us that it’s okay to terminate a human life because it represents a financial hardship or social disruption, what are we telling them?\"","url":"https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/","keywords":["abortion","pro-choice","pro-life","Politicians","mike huckabee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84556becda613007/69868543adae442319541f00/150989677.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84556becda613007/69868543adae442319541f00/150989677.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mike huckabee","caption":"Republican Convention in Tampa, Florida","creditText":"MCT / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/abortion/","name":"abortion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/23123/huckabee-abortion-start-of-slippery-slope-to-euthanasia/","name":"Huckabee: Abortion Start Of Slippery Slope To Euthanasia"}}]}] ```