Ted Cruz to pastors: No delay on defunding Planned Parenthood, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz had a simple message for the thousands of Christian pastors who joined him on a conference call Tuesday to talk about defunding Planned Parenthood.
“Now is the time,” Cruz told them.
Cruz, a freshman U.S. senator from Texas, joined a call organized by the American Renewal Project, a Christian group dedicated to increasing political involvement by ministers. The call was closed to the news media but Yahoo News received an invitation to listen in.
Cruz has battled the leadership of his own party since he joined the Senate in 2013, and is poised to do so again over the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., favor building a consensus, including at least some Democrats, before Republicans attempt to strip Planned Parenthood of the roughly half a billion dollars it receives from the federal government each year.
Cruz, who is gaining momentum in the Republican presidential primary, says that a provision to defund Planned Parenthood should be attached to the continuing resolution that Congress will take up this fall to continue funding the federal government. “That is the circumstance in which the vote actually has teeth. That is the circumstance in which Congress would actually cut off funding,” Cruz said.
“Here’s the challenge: The leadership of both parties … want an empty show vote,” Cruz said.
Cruz urged the ministers to preach from their pulpits about the series of undercover videos that have been released over the summer by a group called the Center for Medical Progress. The videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing, in graphic detail, extracting organs from aborted fetuses and transferring them to research companies for a fee.
And he asked the pastors to instruct their congregants to call their members of Congress to demand a real defund vote this fall.
“It’s important that they hear that a show vote will not suffice,” Cruz said. “Now is the time for Congress to act and to actually end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”
“Now is the moment where we distinguish words from action. There is a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, and if we stand together and use our constitutional authority we can fund the entire government but decline to fund Planned Parenthood,” Cruz said.
More than 100,000 Christian ministers were invited to participate by the American Renewal Project, but an organizer did not yet know late Tuesday how many dialed in for the call.
The sale of fetal tissue for profit is banned by law, and Planned Parenthood says the videos do not show efforts to illegally sell tissue, but rather the cost of storing and transporting it. Women who have abortions have the option to voluntarily donate the fetus for medical research.
Planned Parenthood says abortion makes up only three percent of its services. Its most recent annual report stated that the group’s affiliates conducted 327,653 abortions from the fall of 2012 to the fall of 2013. By law, Planned Parenthood cannot use federal funds to pay for abortions, but opponents say public dollars are indirectly subsidizing the group’s abortion activities.
Cruz said that the undercover videos reveal unlawful conduct, and referred to Planned Parenthood as a “criminal organization.”
“These videos not only show the face of evil, they also appear to demonstrate an ongoing pattern of criminal conduct,” he said. “There are multiple federal laws that appear to be broken in these videos.”
Cruz added that he is encouraging abortion supporters to watch the videos as well.
“These videos have the power to move people’s hearts and minds, even those who believe that they are pro-choice today. Watching these videos, you cannot help but be repulsed at the callous disregard for human life,” he said.
“Now is the time,” Cruz told them.
Cruz, a freshman U.S. senator from Texas, joined a call organized by the American Renewal Project, a Christian group dedicated to increasing political involvement by ministers. The call was closed to the news media but Yahoo News received an invitation to listen in.
Cruz has battled the leadership of his own party since he joined the Senate in 2013, and is poised to do so again over the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., favor building a consensus, including at least some Democrats, before Republicans attempt to strip Planned Parenthood of the roughly half a billion dollars it receives from the federal government each year.
Cruz, who is gaining momentum in the Republican presidential primary, says that a provision to defund Planned Parenthood should be attached to the continuing resolution that Congress will take up this fall to continue funding the federal government. “That is the circumstance in which the vote actually has teeth. That is the circumstance in which Congress would actually cut off funding,” Cruz said.
“Here’s the challenge: The leadership of both parties … want an empty show vote,” Cruz said.
Cruz urged the ministers to preach from their pulpits about the series of undercover videos that have been released over the summer by a group called the Center for Medical Progress. The videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing, in graphic detail, extracting organs from aborted fetuses and transferring them to research companies for a fee.
And he asked the pastors to instruct their congregants to call their members of Congress to demand a real defund vote this fall.
“It’s important that they hear that a show vote will not suffice,” Cruz said. “Now is the time for Congress to act and to actually end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”
“Now is the moment where we distinguish words from action. There is a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, and if we stand together and use our constitutional authority we can fund the entire government but decline to fund Planned Parenthood,” Cruz said.
More than 100,000 Christian ministers were invited to participate by the American Renewal Project, but an organizer did not yet know late Tuesday how many dialed in for the call.
The sale of fetal tissue for profit is banned by law, and Planned Parenthood says the videos do not show efforts to illegally sell tissue, but rather the cost of storing and transporting it. Women who have abortions have the option to voluntarily donate the fetus for medical research.
Planned Parenthood says abortion makes up only three percent of its services. Its most recent annual report stated that the group’s affiliates conducted 327,653 abortions from the fall of 2012 to the fall of 2013. By law, Planned Parenthood cannot use federal funds to pay for abortions, but opponents say public dollars are indirectly subsidizing the group’s abortion activities.
Cruz said that the undercover videos reveal unlawful conduct, and referred to Planned Parenthood as a “criminal organization.”
“These videos not only show the face of evil, they also appear to demonstrate an ongoing pattern of criminal conduct,” he said. “There are multiple federal laws that appear to be broken in these videos.”
Cruz added that he is encouraging abortion supporters to watch the videos as well.
“These videos have the power to move people’s hearts and minds, even those who believe that they are pro-choice today. Watching these videos, you cannot help but be repulsed at the callous disregard for human life,” he said.
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