The Hill News

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman said Tuesday he wouldn't sign pledges meant for candidates having to do with taxes and abortion rights.

Huntsman said that he would sign neither the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," the manifesto crafted by Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist pledge of no new taxes, nor the document crafted by the Susan B. Anthony List intended to limit abortion rights.

"First of all, I don't sign pledges. I was asked to sign a pledge when I ran for governor in 2004, and I didn't," Huntsman said in a gaggle with reporters aboard his plane. "And I got attacked because I didn't. And then we went around cutting and reforming taxes at record levels."

"My take on all of this is your record should say everything about where you are and where you're going. I don't need to sign a pledge," he added during the flight from New Hampshire to Newark, N.J.

Norquist has turned his pledge into somewhat! of a litmus test for Republican candidates for office, from the presidential ticket to congressional races.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), one of Huntsman's chief rivals for the Republican nomination, has also refused to sign the Susan B. Anthony List pledge. Romney's drawn fire from more conservative members of the primary field, despite his explanation that he thinks the pledge is overly broad and would have unintended consequences.

"As I mentioned before, I don't sign pledges," he said in response to a question about the SBA List pledge.

Huntsman also staked out further turf on social issues, responding to a question about whether he would seek a federal ban on same-sex marriage to overturn a pending New York state law that would legalize gay and lesbian unions.

"I would respect the state's decision," he said.