As conservatives continue to grapple with how they -- and the Republican Party at large -- should handle the issue of gay marriage, some prominent voices are coming out to either endorse or condemn pushes for the movement to embrace same-sex nuptials. Among those personalities is former presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

In an interview with the Des Moines Register, the politician said that embracing gay marriage would be "suicidal" for the party. The former senator also noted that some Republicans, like Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who have openly endorsed gay marriage are no different than those politicians who parted ideological ways from the party over the abortion issue in the 1960s and 1970s.

Rick Santorum Warns: If GOP Embraces Gay Marriage It Would Be Suicidal

Former GOP presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"I'm sure you could go back and read stories, oh, you know, 'The Republican party's going to change. This is the future.' Obviously that didn't happen," Santorum told the outlet. "I think you're going to see the same stories written now and it's not going to happen. The Republican party's not going to change on this issue. In my opinion it would be suicidal if it did."

Santorum went on to note that speaking about how best to communicate messages is fine, but that transforming "foundational principles" is another story -- one that could prove problematic for the GOP.

"Just because some of those things happen to be popular right now doesn't mean the Republican party should follow suit," he noted.

Rick Santorum Warns: If GOP Embraces Gay Marriage It Would Be Suicidal

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gestures as he speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md. on Friday, March 15, 2013. Credit: AP

As far as the Supreme Court goes on the marriage front, Santorum believes that the nation's highest court won't follow the same pattern it embraced in deciding Roe v. Wade, the contentious abortion case that legalized the procedure back in 1973.

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"I think you'll see, hopefully, a chastened Supreme Court is not going to make the same mistake in the (current) cases as they did in Roe v. Wade," he said. "I'm hopeful the Supreme Court learned its lesson about trying to predict where the American public is going on issues and trying to find rights in the Constitution that sit with the fancy of the day."

The politician also said that the door for a presidential run in 2016 could be open, but that much consideration and contemplation still remains to be made.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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