He's outta here! Last night Ted Cruz — the guy who tried to shut down the federal government to prevent people from getting care at Planned Parenthood health centers — announced that he was dropping out of the 2016 presidential race.
It shows what we've known all along: Attacking the care that Planned Parenthood health centers provide will never win elections. Ted Cruz learned that lesson last night, and Donald Trump will learn the very same lesson in November. Why? Because millions of women, men and young people each year rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for essential, lifesaving care.
One in five women will turn to Planned Parenthood for health care in her lifetime. That is a powerful force.
“The Republican party has embraced a platform that is anti-immigrant, strips rights away from communities of color, criminalizes abortion, prevents millions from accessing basic health care at Planned Parenthood, and cuts insurance coverage for birth control.
"It’s only fitting that the presumptive nominee is a bombastic bigot who has called immigrants ‘rapists,’ said he would punish women for having an abortion, repeatedly insults women, and has incited violence against people of color at his rallies. The more Donald Trump embraces this dangerous agenda, the more he alienates the American people."
—Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Looking Back on Ted Cruz's Legacy of Lowlights
Last year, Ted Cruz led an unpopular campaign to “defund” Planned Parenthood health centers by preventing them from serving any patients who rely on federally funded programs. Even though this move was opposed by the majority of the American people, he took it so far as to attempt to shut down the government rather than allow women and men to continue to get cancer screenings and birth control at Planned Parenthood health centers.
During his presidential campaign, Ted Cruz took it one step further, spending money to run ads that repeated dangerous and discredited flat-out lies attacking Planned Parenthood.
He also announced that he chose Carly Fiorina, who was forced to drop out of the presidential race after being called out by a barrage of fact-checkers for lying about Planned Parenthood, as his vice presidential running mate.
Oh yeah, and he also said he'd force women to carry their rapists' baby to term. It's no wonder he has long held a place in the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's Gynotician Hall of Shame.
Ta ta, Ted!
(Not) Looking Forward: Trump as Presumptive GOP Nominee
Cruz dropping out leaves us with Donald Trump as the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee. Remember: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz agree on Planned Parenthood. They both want to block more than a million people from accessing birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers –– and they’ve both been willing to shutdown the government to do so. In fact, Donald Trump's stance on women's health and rights is virtually indistinguishable from his GOP colleagues': He not only wants to cut access to care at Planned Parenthood, but also wants to ban access to safe, legal abortion.
What a Donald Trump Presidency Means for This Country
A Donald Trump presidency would see millions of people blocked from accessing birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers. A Donald Trump presidency would see women and doctors punished for accessing or providing safe, legal abortion. A Donald Trump presidency will divide this country.
"Donald Trump spouts hateful lies about immigrants, Muslims, and anyone who protests his outlandish, inflammatory, and offensive policies. His rhetoric and his policies are straight up dangerous."
—Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
With so many states across the country moving to block access to Planned Parenthood and ban abortion, we need a president who will fight for women. Donald Trump is not that person.
Take Action: Denounce Donald Trump’s Extremism
Let's be clear: Trump is dangerous, inciting violence at his rallies and using ugly rhetoric targeting women and people of color in his speeches. And if elected, he would be an absolute disaster for women's health and rights.
Related:
- More on Donald Trump
- No Surprise Here: Donald Trump’s Plan Would Be A Disaster for Women’s Health Across America
Tags: Texas, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Ted Cruz, New York
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