February 13, 2016
Friday night in South Carolina, Ted Cruz claimed that he and Marco disagree about defunding Planned Parenthood. The facts in Marco’s record say otherwise.
This is a desperate politically motivated attack: Marco has a sterling pro-life record, has consistently voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and would make it a priority to protect life as President.
Here’s just how dishonest Cruz’s attack is: The nonpartisan group National Right to Life has totally rejected it as “inaccurate and misleading.”
Statement from @nrlc president @CarolTobias1 on Rubio/Cruz & defunding PP: pic.twitter.com/KeeJ8Vaw3q
— Andrew Bair (@ProLifePolitics) February 13, 2016
And pro-life conservatives didn’t just reject the attack — they were disgusted by it.
Congressman Trey Gowdy said he’s “bitterly disappointed” by Cruz’s attack:
Marco is passionately committed to the pro-life cause and has repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Marco’s unwavering defense of life is one of the reasons I so enthusiastically support him. I am bitterly disappointed Ted Cruz would try to intentionally mislead my fellow South Carolinians. The sanctity of life is not a political issue to many of us. It is a moral, spiritual and human rights issue. I am not surprised when Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Nancy Pelosi distort Marco’s record. I am surprised and disappointed when Ted Cruz does it.
And here’s what former senator Rick Santorum — who led the charge to ban partial-birth abortion — said it’s a “disservice to the pro-life cause“:
Marco Rubio has been and always will be a staunch defender of life. For Ted Cruz to suggest otherwise is a disservice to the pro-life cause. We should be united in our fight to defund Planned Parenthood. Trying to create divisions and pit passionate pro-life leaders against each other is a disservice to the innocent unborn babies relying on us for help. We need a leader like Marco who can unite conservatives in the fight for life, not people like Ted Cruz who choose to weaken the pro-life movement for political gain.
Conservative activists were turned off, too:
This is jaw-droppingly dishonest https://t.co/d2uZJZdk9b
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) February 13, 2016
As a Cruz supporter, it’s very, very difficult to buy any claim that Rubio is not a full-throated supporter of ending abortion in every form
— Charlie Cafazza (@Cafazza) February 12, 2016
Honestly I’m waiting for a Cruz supporter to condemn these baseless attacks on Rubio. It’s getting to be gross
https://t.co/YLp1esnnOJ— GSimms (@GSimmsTrades) February 13, 2016