Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion

	; ; Former presidential candidate; Ted Cruz
	Political offices: ; U.S. Senator; (Assumed office: 2013);
	Cruz on the issues:
	Taxes • Banking policy • Government regulations • International trade • Budgets • Agricultural subsidies • Federal assistance programs • Foreign affairs • Federalism • Natural resources • Healthcare • Immigration • Education • Abortion • Gay rights
	Republican candidate:
	Donald Trump
	Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage; 2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016

Ted Cruz suspended his presidential campaign on May 3, 2016.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

On the day before the Wisconsin Republican primary, Ted Cruz told attendees at a town hall in Madison that states should have the ability to ban all cases of abortion, including situations of rape and incest. "When it comes to rape, rape is a horrific crime against the humanity of a person, and needs to be punished and punished severely. But at the same time, as horrible as that crime is, I don't believe it's the child's fault. And we weep at the crime, we want to do everything we can to prevent the crime on the front end, and to punish the criminal, but I don't believe it makes sense to blame the child," Cruz said.^[2]

In response to Donald Trump's statement that that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions if abortion is criminalized, made during a town hall on MSNBC on March 30, 2016, Cruz said, “Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn’t seriously thought through the issues, and he’ll say anything just to get attention. On the important issue of the sanctity of life, what’s far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child; it’s also about the mother — and creating a culture that respects her and embraces life. Of course we shouldn’t be talking about punishing women; we should affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world.”^[3]

Cruz said during a town hall on November 30, 3015, that allegations that Republicans were trying to limit women’s access to contraception were “an utter made-up nonsense issue.” He said, “Last I checked, we don’t have a rubber shortage in America. Look, when I was in college, we had a machine in the bathroom, you put 50 cents in and voila. So, yes, anyone who wants contraceptives can access them.”^[4]

Facing a September 30 deadline to fund the government, on September 24, 2015, Ted Cruz said, "President Obama’s position is that if Congress funds 100 percent government that he will nonetheless veto funding for the government, unless Congress also gives $500 million to Planned Parenthood. That is a radical and extreme proposition."^[5]

During CNN's September 16, 2015 Republican presidential debate, Cruz argued that Congress should defund Planned Parenthood. He said, "Well, let me tell you, Dana, number one, I'm proud to stand for life. These Planned Parenthood videos are horrifying. I would encourage every American to watch the videos. See — seeing your Planned Parenthood officials callously, heartlessly bartering and selling the body parts of human beings, and then ask yourself, 'are these my values?' These are horrifying. On these videos, Planned Parenthood also essentially confesses to multiple felonies. It is a felony with ten years' jail term to sell the body parts of unborn children for profit. That's what these videos show Planned Parenthood doing. Absolutely we shouldn't be sending $500 million of taxpayer money to funding an ongoing criminal enterprise, and I'll tell you, the fact that Republican leadership in both houses has begun this discussion by preemptively surrendering to Barack Obama and saying, 'we'll give in because Obama threatens a veto.' You know, Obama's committed to his principles. His liberal principles, he will fight for them. He says I will veto any budget that doesn't fund Planned Parenthood, and Republicans surrender. We need to stop surrendering and start standing for our principles."^[6]
In 2013, Cruz co-sponsored S.1670 - the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have banned most abortions starting at twenty weeks.^[7]

Cruz is "Strongly anti-abortion, he would allow the procedure only when a pregnancy endangers the mother's life," according to The Houston Chronicle.^[8]

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