We can understand why Mr. Huckabee wants to remain a hero to cultural conservatives in case he runs again for President. But he can’t possibly believe that Mr. Akin is helping the pro-life cause. Mr. Akin’s biological confusions merely play into the hands of the folks at Planned Parenthood who want to portray every social conservative as a fanatic with little concern for women. By playing for pro-life sympathy to save his own career, Mr. Akin is also dividing the GOP when it will need every vote to defeat an incumbent President.

Mr. Akin’s backers were calling on pro-life delegates to the Tampa convention to delay nominating Mitt Romney until GOP financial support is restored to the Missouri candidate. Some religious leaders are setting up Mr. Akin as the yardstick against which all “principled” pro-lifers must be measured. John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, has said that Mr. Akin represents the “mainstream of our values.”