Claim: Ted Cruz Says Democrats are embracing “abortion up until the moment of birth and even, horrifically, after that.”
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Political positions of Ted Cruz
text: funding to Planned Parenthood. In January 2016, Cruz announced his "Pro-Lifers for Cruz" coalition, chaired by Tony Perkins; co-chairs include Troy Newman, who has previously stated that the government has a responsibility to execute abortion doctors "in order to expunge bloodguilt ["sic"] from the land and people." Cruz favors the death penalty. In his 2012 Senate campaign, Cruz frequently mentioned his role as counsel for the State of Texas in "Medellín v. Texas", a 2008 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Texas has the legal right to ignore an order from the International Court of Justice directing

title: Rebecca Kiessling
text: serves as co-founder of Hope After Rape Conception and Embryo Defense. Kiessling is critical of anti-abortion legislations that did not include a rape exception, including the Hyde Amendment which bans taxpayer funding on abortion, and the Affordable Care Act which she has described as "a joke that holds no weight". She has also criticized Republicans New Jersey Representative Chris Smith for introducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, and Senator Rick Santorum for having referred to children conceived through rape as a "gift from God" in one of his presidential campaigns in 2012. She also condemned then-Indiana state treasurer

title: Daniel Patrick Moynihan
text: the Environmental Protection Agency. In the mid-1990s, Moynihan was one of the Democrats to support the ban on the procedure known as partial-birth abortion. He said of the procedure: "I think this is just too close to infanticide. A child has been born and it has exited the uterus. What on Earth is this procedure?" Earlier in his career in the Senate, Moynihan had expressed his annoyance with the adamantly pro-choice interest groups petitioning him and others on the issue. He challenged them saying, "you women are ruining the Democratic Party with your insistence on abortion." Moynihan broke with orthodox

title: Scott Randolph
text: before terminating a pregnancy, telling a story about how viewing ultrasounds after his wife had miscarried was a traumatic experiencing, crying while he told the story. He was later criticized during a debate on union reforms, in which he argued that Republicans were against regulations, except when it came to social issues. He sarcastically suggested that his wife "incorporate her uterus" to stop Republican efforts to limit her reproductive health choices, at which point the Speaker of the House stepped in, informing Randolph that his choice of language was inappropriate, as he referenced a body part, and that he should

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: 2012 Republican primary election with support from the Tea Party movement. On October 23, 2012, two weeks before the election, Mourdock was asked about abortion during a debate with Democrat nominee Joe Donnelly. He said: I know there are some who disagree and I respect their point of view but I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize: Life is that gift from God that I think

title: Heidi Heitkamp
text: fellow red state Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana), who entered the Senate at the same time Heitkamp did. When running for Senate in 2012, Heitkamp said she opposed public funding of abortions and believed that "late term abortions should be illegal except when necessary to save the life of the mother." After her election, however, she voted to filibuster a bill that would have made abortions illegal after the fifth month of pregnancy except when the mother's life is endangered. Heitkamp's apparent shift led to criticism by Marjorie Dannenfelser of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List. Planned Parenthood, which supports

title: Scott Walker (politician)
text: the Court refused to hear the Walker administration's appeal of the Seventh Circuit decision, leaving its finding of unconstitutionality in place. Walker blamed an "activist court" for finding his law unconstitutional. On July 20, 2015, Walker signed a bill into law that banned all abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, "except when the life of the mother is in immediate danger." In 2012, regarding right-to-work legislation, Walker told reporters at the state Republican Party convention that "It's not going to get to my desk ... I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it isn't there

title: Scott Walker (politician)
text: stated that he is "pro-life", and pointed to legislation he signed that leaves "the final decision to a woman and her doctor". In August 2015, he criticized the notion that abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother in certain cases, calling it a "false choice." In an interview with the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" a few weeks before the November 2014 election, Walker declined to answer directly when asked if abortion should be prohibited after 20 weeks. In July 2015, Walker signed a state law banning abortion after 20 weeks, including in cases of rape or incest but

title: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
text: act, saying, "Not only is it good legislation, but it enjoys the support of a majority of the American people." Most of the candidates running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 pledged support for the 20 week abortion ban. After receiving the Republican nomination, in September 2017 Donald Trump signed a letter to pro-life leaders committing to sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act if elected. After the House passed the bill in 2015, Hillary Clinton criticized the bill as "a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, which has protected a woman's constitutional right to privacy for over

title: Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt
text: praised the decision as a victory for women, saying "By striking down politically motivated restrictions that made it nearly impossible for Texans to exercise their full reproductive rights, the Court upheld every woman’s right to safe, legal abortion, no matter where she lives." President Obama issued a statement applauding the Court's decision and reiterating his commitment to "women's health, including protecting a woman's access to safe, affordable health care and her right to determine her own future." Senator Bernie Sanders applauded the decision, calling it a "decisive victory for women across the country." Senator Ted Cruz expressed disappointment with the

title: Democratic Party (United States)
text: and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception and incentives for adoption. The wording changed in the 2008 platform. When Congress voted on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, Congressional Democrats were split, with a minority (including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) supporting the ban and the majority of Democrats opposing the legislation. The Democratic Party opposes attempts to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court decision "Roe v. Wade", which declared abortion covered by the constitutionally protected individual right to privacy under the Ninth Amendment; and "Planned Parenthood v. Casey", which lays out

title: Donald Trump
text: favored changing the 2016 Republican platform to affirm women's right to abortion in the three exceptional cases of rape, incest, and circumstances endangering the health of the mother. He has said that he is committed to appointing pro-life justices. He personally supports "traditional marriage" but considers the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue. Trump supports a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment and says he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time. Trump opposes legalizing recreational marijuana but supports legalizing medical marijuana. He favors capital punishment, as well as the use

title: Political positions of Ron Paul
text: abortions. In order to "offset the effects of "Roe v. Wade"", Paul voted in favor of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. He has described partial birth abortion as a "barbaric procedure". He also introduced H.R. 4379 that would prohibit the Supreme Court from ruling on issues relating to abortion, birth control, the definition of marriage and homosexuality and would cause the court's precedents in these areas to no longer be binding. He once said, "The best solution, of course, is not now available to us. That would be a Supreme Court that recognizes that for all criminal

title: Political positions of Mitt Romney
text: beginning at conception. In the 2012 presidential campaign, he said that, had he as governor been presented with a state constitutional amendment to define life as beginning at conception, he would have supported it. In a campaign interview on October 9, 2012, Romney stated, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda." Democrats charged that Romney was trying to appeal to moderate voters by hiding his true position on reproductive rights. A Romney campaign spokesperson told the conservative "National Review Online" that Romney "would, of course, support legislation aimed at

title: Political positions of the Republican Party
text: "leave the issue [abortion] alone." He warned against going beyond stating one's pro-life belief and actions could hurt the Republican party with women voters and young voters. In a 2015 poll, 6 out of 10 moderate Republicans believed that abortion should be legal in most or all instances. Republicans are generally against affirmative action for women and some minorities, often describing it as a 'quota system', and believing that it is not meritocratic and that it is counter-productive socially by only further promoting discrimination. Many Republicans support race-neutral admissions policies in universities, but support taking into account the socioeconomic status

title: Bob Marshall (Virginia politician)
text: that he was running for John Warner's U.S. Senate seat. He was running against former Governor Jim Gilmore for the Republican nomination. Marshall ran well to Gilmore's right, claiming Gilmore is too soft on abortion. While Gilmore believes a woman should be able to choose whether to end her pregnancy in the first eight weeks, Marshall opposes abortion in all circumstances. After months of speculation, on January 12, 2012, Marshall confirmed that he would enter the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring Jim Webb. He formally announced his candidacy on January 16,

title: Ted Cruz
text: the International Court of Justice directing the U.S. to review the convictions and sentences of dozens of Mexican nationals on death row. Cruz has referred to "Medellín" as the most important case of his tenure as Texas solicitor general. Cruz is a gun-rights supporter. In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt discussing the attack that killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Cruz said that "the simple and undeniable fact is the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats", and that the reason Democrats are soft on crime, is that convicted felons tend to vote

title: Rick Santorum
text: the voices of those who do not have a voice are out in front and being included in the national debate." Santorum considered himself pro-choice on abortion throughout his early life, but adopted a pro-life position by 1990 when he ran for Congress. He has become known for his staunch opposition to abortion. In 2015, he said, "'I do not "believe" life begins at conception. I "know" life begins at conception. This is not a matter of debate. It's not a matter of faith... Every child at the moment of conception is both living — that embryo is metabolizing —

title: Political positions of Marco Rubio
text: of the circumstance in which it came into being, is worthy of protection." Rubio strongly opposes the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark abortion rights decision in "Roe v. Wade" (1973), calling it a "historically, egregiously flawed decision" and "one of America's most blatant instances of judicial activism." On capital punishment, Rubio opposes protracted legal battles that delay justice for the victims, so he favors streamlining the appeals process. On LGBT issues, Rubio believes states should govern the issue, not the national government. On March 14, 2013, he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference and said "states should have the right

title: Lindsey Graham
text: for no good reason" and "looking at this issue through a libertarian's eyes, not a physician's eyes." Graham continued: In 2015, Graham sponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to the Senate, which bans abortion after 20 weeks of gestation on a national basis, with some exceptions. In 2018, Graham said that he is pro-life, but believes that "Roe v. Wade" is precedent that should not be overturned without "good reason." On December 10, 2009, Graham co-sponsored a letter to President Barack Obama along with then Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman announcing their commitment to passing a climate change