National Right to Life Endorses Ted Cruz

The board of directors at National Right to Life (NRL) says it is backing Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination for president.

NEW: National Right to Life backs Cruz after Trump stumbles on abortion https://t.co/qVPU2CuHcQ pic.twitter.com/SgLsFCZviB

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 5, 2016

“National Right to Life believes Sen. Cruz is the only candidate for president who has always been pro-life, who has a 100% pro-life voting record with National Right to Life, who can win the Republican nomination, and who can defeat pro-abortion Hillary Clinton in November,” NRL News reports.

The announcement comes as Cruz’s rival Donald Trump, who described himself as “very pro-choice” in 1999, had a series of stumbles last week when asked by leftwing media about his stance on abortion.

In an MSNBC interview with Chris Matthews, Trump was asked about the hypothetical case of abortion becoming illegal once again, and whether women, in that case, who have abortions, should be punished. The candidate said those women could receive some form of punishment, but his campaign later walked back that statement, saying instead that abortionists would be punished in that circumstance, not women.

Two days later, Trump was asked by CBS’s Face the Nation host John Dickerson about his prior MSNBC interview and said, “The laws are set now on abortion and that’s the way they’re gong to remain until they’re changed. At this moment, the laws are set and I think we have to leave it that way.”

Trump’s campaign clarified that statement as well.

The real estate entrepreneur also has said on several occasions that while he is now pro-life and would defund Planned Parenthood if it continues to provide abortions, “millions” of women get help from Planned Parenthood for other services.

In a Town Hall event on Monday evening, Cruz told Fox News host Megyn Kelly that the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which legalized abortion across the country, is a “classic example of judicial activism.”

Cruz, who has always been pro-life, explained nevertheless that he would not make abortion illegal if he were elected president, because he is a defender of the Constitution and believes the issue of abortion – like all public policy questions – should be left to the people at the ballot box.

Cruz said:

My whole life I’ve been a passionate defender of the Constitution, and I think judicial activism is wrong. One of the worst things about the Supreme Court in 1973 stepping in and seizing this issue is it took it out of control of the people. It said that five unelected judges will decide this issue rather than 330 million Americans. I believe under our Constitution we have a democratic society and that if someone wants to pass legislation limiting or expanding abortion, the way to do that is to convince your fellow citizens to make the case at the ballot box.

“But I think all of us should agree that it’s a much better system to have important public policy issues decided by the people, at the ballot box, rather than five unelected lawyers just imposing their views on everybody else,” he added.

Cruz explained that what Americans need to help them decide these issues is contained in the nation’s founding documents.

“[I]f you trust the people – it’s one of the reasons why the Constitution and Bill of Rights can be such a unifying document and approach because ultimately the Constitution entrusts the people with making these decisions, not having them forced on us by unelected judges,” he said.

NRL also says Cruz is better equipped to beat Clinton in the general election.

“An average of seven recent national political polls shows that Mr. Trump trails Hillary Clinton by 11.2%,” NRL News reports. “In those same seven polls, Sen. Cruz trails Mrs. Clinton by an average of 3%.”