Indiana Governor Mike Pence, a pro-life governor hailed by pro-life groups for recently signing a bill to ban abortions targeting babies with Down syndrome, is expected to endorse pro-life Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz this afternoon. The endorsement could go a long waytowards helping the pro-life senator in his battle for the nomination against businessman Donald Trump.
Conservative writer Erick Erickson has more details and commentary on the pending endorsement, which he think is a big deal for Cruz in helping him win a winner-take-all state next Tuesday in the crucial battle for convention delegates:
On a Friday before the weekend news cycle and Sunday shows, Governor Pence is going to endorse Ted Cruz. He’s going to do it on Greg Garrison’s talk radio show on WIBC, which is well regarded and listened to by conservatives across Indiana.
This is good news. As I noted this morning, the winds seem to have shifted in Ted Cruz’s favor. For a guy who supposedly cannot win the nomination, the Establishment GOP has collectively freaked out about him in the past 24 hours. That’s a big indication they know the polling has shifting.
In fact, more and more sources are telling me the race is very, very close in Indiana. Pence coming on board will, like the Fiorina pick, help shift the conversation more in Ted’s direction and highlight what is at stake.
Pence signed House Bill 1337, which would ban abortion doctors from knowingly aborting an unborn baby solely because of a genetic disability such as Down syndrome, the unborn baby’s race or sex. The bill also has several other abortion-related measures, including a requirement that aborted or miscarried babies’ bodies be cremated or buried and another requirement that abortionists who have hospital admitting privileges renew them annually. The burial/cremation requirement backs up a law passed in 2015 by Gov. Pence requiring that aborted babies’ bodies be disposed of in a humane way.
“Throughout my public career, I have stood for the sanctity of life. HEA 1337 is a comprehensive pro-life measure that affirms the value of all human life, which is why I signed it into law today,” Governor Pence said in a statement.
Pence continued: “I believe that a society can be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, the disabled and the unborn. HEA 1337 will ensure the dignified final treatment of the unborn and prohibits abortions that are based only on the unborn child’s sex, race, color, national origin, ancestry, or disability, including Down syndrome.”
Cruz has a similar strongly-held pro-life viewpoint.
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Cruz has a 100% pro-life voting record as a member of the Senate . On 10 total votes on pro-life issues taken while has has served in the Senate, Cruz voted pro-life every single time.
The votes tallied by the national Right to Life Committee include multiple votes supporting a bill to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business over the years, votes to repeal or de-fund Obamacare, which uses taxpayer funds to pay for abortions as well as votes to protect the conscience rights of pro-life Americans.
In a recent interview, Cruz expound on his pro-life views and said that pro-abortion Democrats use the issue of contraception to try to attack pro-life Republicans and make them look like extremists.
Cruz gave an interview last week to the Catholic news network EWTN and he asked Cruz about some comments he made supporting contraception. The Texas senator said he was pushing back against a Democratic “political attack that was deliberately deceptive.”
“I am unequivocally pro-life, I believe that every life is a precious gift from God that needs to be protected from the moment of conception until the moment of natural death,” he said.
