Good news for Pro-Lifers: the only two confirmed 2016 presidential candidates are on our side. Senator Rand Paul, who officially announced his campaign on Tuesday, has a strong Pro-Life record.
In March, Texas’s own Senator Ted Cruz announced that he would run for President of the United States to fill the vacancy left by rabidly anti-Life two-termer, Obama. Cruz is dedicated to protecting Life, and has already shown in his brief tenure as an elected official that he is serious about his commitment.
While some Republicans offer lip service to Pro-Life values simply to toe their party line, Cruz’s commitment to protecting Life appears to be unshakably genuine. The 44-year-old senator has unabashedly condemned the Obama Administration’s attacks on religious liberty and the Right to Life by denouncing the anti-Life provisions of the Affordable Care Act. He has also shown personal conviction about abortion by acknowledging the 55 million who had died as of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in 2013.
Just months after being elected, Cruz proved that he was ready to work for the change that he wanted to see in the government, and was cited as a “major force” behind the total government shutdown of October, 2013, after demonstrating—with a 21-hour marathon speech on the Senate floor—his unflinching opposition to what he called the “train wreck” of Obamacare. Cruz insisted on transparency from the Obama Administration, and held that the government shutdown was a result of the administration’s unwillingness to cooperate. He was bashed by fellow Republicans for holding his ground, but Cruz insisted: “I would do anything, and I will continue to do anything I can, to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare. The test that matters… is are we doing anything for all the people that are getting hurt from Obamacare?”
Among those “getting hurt” from Obamacare, in Cruz’s estimation, are the preborn victims of abortifacients—coverage for which the Obama Administration has obstinately pushed on conscientiously-objecting employers. Cruz stated in 2013:
President Obama’s contraception mandate arrogantly tramples on the rights of many Catholics, trying to force them to violate their faith. But this is a battle for all Americans, Catholic or not, because the destruction of liberty never takes place overnight. Despotism creeps insidiously through single acts of oppression, with the stepping stones of precedent empowering bureaucrats more and more to infringe the basic rights of everyone.
Liberal pundits would like to believe that Cruz is an outlier where public opinion is concerned, citing his supposedly radical views on abortion and lack of education on so-called women’s health. In reality, however, Cruz’s solidly Pro-Life convictions are far-reaching—and that includes outside Republican Party lines.
What do you think about Ted Cruz as the next POTUS? Tell us in the comments below.