Huckabee is anti-abortion but says that some in the "pro-life community" put "undue focus on the gestation period" instead of caring for children throughout their lives. Huckabee has said that Roe v. Wade should be overturned but that its reversal would not eliminate abortion laws. "Some states would have very liberal abortion laws, other states would have very strict abortion laws," he said. 

Huckabee has said that his faith "explains" him and affects his decision-making process. He has said: "I'm not as troubled by a person who has a different faith. I'm troubled by a person who tells me their faith doesn't influence their decisions." He has said that the government "should have a hands-off attitude" toward religion, and he has called efforts to ban religious displays on public property "absurd." Huckabee says he believes that the U.S. is "a nation of faith [but] it doesn't necessarily have to be mine."

Huckabee supports the death penalty. In his book, From Hope to Higher Ground, he described the death penalty as "a tough issue." He wrote that he believes "some crimes deserve it, but that does not mean I like it." He also described carrying out the death penalty as the worst part of his job as governor of Arkansas. In a December 2005 interview on PBS that he said that he has had to "carry out the death penalty more than any governor in the history of my state" and that "it is not something I'm proud of." 

While Huckabee says that he does not believe in evolution, he has no problem with schools teaching evolution as a theory. "We shouldn't indoctrinate kids in school," he has said, adding, "I wouldn't want them teaching creationism as if it's the only thing that they should teach.'' Huckabee has said that if a family prays together outside of school, it doesn't need to worry about whether children are allowed to pray in school. In response to questions about why he sent his children to public schools rather than religious private schools, he said that he felt it was not the schools' job to teach his children how to pray. In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, Huckabee proclaimed a "Student Religious Liberty Month" in Arkansas and encouraged students to "turn to their faith and pray." 

Huckabee says that "there may be" a human role in climate change and that protecting the environment is a "spiritual issue." He also says that "our responsibility to God means that we have to be good stewards of this Earth, be good caretakers of the natural resources that don't belong to us; we just get to use them." He favors working toward alternative energy sources and American energy independence. 

Huckabee created the Governor's Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives in Arkansas in 2004. He also issued an executive order forcing Arkansas compliance with federal "Charitable Choice" laws in order to allow faith-based organizations to compete for funds from state agencies. 

Huckabee opposes gay marriage. When asked if he believes that homosexuality is immoral, he said, "That's their business [but I] don't agree with it." He believes in a traditional definition of marriage where "the rules are one man, one woman for life." While he says that "people have a right to decide how they live their lives," he also believes that "they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage." 

After losing more than 100 pounds in two years while he was governor of Arkansas, Huckabee focused on eliminating obesity and improving public health. Huckabee calls the American health care system "irreparably broken" and calls for more preventative care. He is against universal health insurance coverage and says that the U.S. needs a system "where there are incentives for healthy behavior and for management of one's health-care expenses." While governor, Huckabee created the ARKids First program to provide health insurance for many uninsured children. 

Huckabee says that he does not believe in amnesty for illegal immigrants in the U.S. "There does need to be restitution and a way to make sure they don't jump in front of people who have been trying to get into the country legally," he says. He has also said: "There is a need for people who will do jobs after our citizens have had first crack at them." Huckabee favors increased border security. "I've never really worried about someone slipping across the border to pluck chickens or pick tomatoes or make beds, but it does worry me that somebody could also slip across the border with a shoulder-fired missile launcher," he said. Huckabee also has spoken out against what he calls "sanctuary cities." 

Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III" against Islamic fascism, which he describes as "a perversion of Islam." He said that President Bush's 2007 plan to increase troop levels in Iraq should be given a chance to work, adding, "I'm going to have to trust the people over there sucking that sand into their lungs and putting their boots on the ground every day." Huckabee favors gradually transferring power to the Iraqi government, though not on a timetable. 

Huckabee says one of his priorities is to address poverty because it's "consistent with me being pro-life." He calls his desire to fight poverty a "faith position" rather than a political position. He says that it is impossible to address poverty without prioritizing stable homes and families, which he sees as "critical economic issues." 

Huckabee supports research on existing stem cell lines but does not believe in "creating life for the sole purpose of destroying it." He says that embryonic stem cell research may not be necessary "because recent discoveries have shown that stem cells from the umbilical cord may in fact be as useful as the embryonic stem cells that were previously created."