Beginning at Tuesday, September 24, at around 2:41 pm, the junior Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke for over 21 hours about defunding ObamaCare. Though his control of the floor was technically not a filibuster, he still holds the distinction of speaking for the fourth longest on the Senate floor.
The reasons for and against funding ObamaCare are numerous and varied. And the idea of universal health care is certainly a likely debate topic among pro-lifers.
However, no true pro-life can support ObamaCare, with the funding of abortion. Pro-lifers have been saying this for some time, despite politicians and groups saying otherwise, with more evidence coming in by the day. It is also no secret that the HHS Mandate requires employers, even those who have religious objections, to provide contraception and abortifacient drugs to their employees. The White House has issued so-called “compromises” but this measure grants exemptions to a very limited class of organization.
Opposing ObamaCare for its pro-abortion position, even the funding of abortion, is only one such reason against this health care law. Many, particularly those in Congress, usually talk about it from an affordability angle rather than a pro-life one. ObamaCare’s true title is actually the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Many critics have taken to spinning the title as the Unaffordable Care Act.
Senator Ted Cruz is a pro-life politician, however. And his time in the Senate, however brief, does show that. He also has a 100 percent score from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), and spoke at the NRLC’s conference in June of this year. And at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March of this year, where he was the keynote speaker, he spoke against the HHS Mandate for its assault on religious liberty.
Fortunately, The Washington Post has provided a transcript to this 21 hour speech. It does include a mention on religious liberty. Emphasis is mine:
If we listened to the people, if we make DC listen, this would not be about party, this would not be about Democrats sticking to the bill they passed, this would not be about Republicans afraid of political blame and repercussions. This would be about 100 Senators listening to people and saying: This bill is not working… Because it violates Americans’ first amendment right to religious liberty. Because we the people don’t want it and the government works for us.
He also references abortion, with emphasis again being my own:
..That is what ObamaCare is doing… Because it’s not about care, it is about government control. Because I shouldn’t have to pay for the murder of innocent, unborn babies through abortion. Because if it worked, Democratic Senators would not have needed to be bribed to vote for it. Because the death panel is an unchecked bureaucracy accountable to no one. Because I love my current health care and doctors.
I admit that I have become a bit cynical as of late when it comes to politicians really supporting our cause, but Ted Cruz’s statements and his record, has renewed my hope. He is also an inspiration for those who maybe someday will devote their lengthy speeches to discussing the pro-life cause. I know if I ever speak for that long, it will most likely be on abortion, and Ted Cruz will most certainly have been a role model.
And don’t just take my word for it. Pro-life leaders have also expressed their support for Ted Cruz.
Unfortunately for Senator Cruz, however, media bias appears to be alive and well in contrasting him to fellow Texan and state Senator Wendy Davis, a Democrat who attempted to filibuster a common sense bill that would ban late-term abortion and set up more regulations in her state. Politico, Hot Air, and YoungConservatives, as well as LifeNews, have pointed out examples of such media bias.
Ted Cruz was a man for the people when he spoke for over 21 hours about defunding ObamaCare, an issue that many people care deeply about. Let us hope for him that he continues his resolve not only with this fight, but with the pro-life cause as a whole.
