What They’re Saying: Cruz “Grilled” On Texas Abortion Case

Cruz “dodged questions,” but previously “championed” Texas’ ban

After the Texas Supreme Court prohibited a life-saving abortion for a pregnant woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition, new reports detail that Ted Cruz has “dodged questions” on the case and “refused to comment” on his support for the state’s ban — which he previously called “a massive victory.” 

From DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman Baity: “Cruz has spent his career trying to take away women’s right to make our own health care decisions, and he doesn’t even have the guts to defend his record. In 2024 he won’t be able to run from the Texas voters who are going to hold him accountable for his anti-choice record in the Senate.” 

Here’s what they’re saying:

Newsweek: Ted Cruz Grilled Over Texas Ruling on Kate Cox Abortion
By Benjamin Lynch
November 13, 2023

• Texas Senator Ted Cruz was grilled over his stance on the Kate Cox abortion case in his state, but has avoided answering questions. [Cruz] dodged questions on the controversial case, in which the Texas Supreme Court ruled women could not seek abortions for high-risk pregnancies.
  
  
• Cruz, NBC News reported, was given numerous opportunities to comment on the case but has so far declined. In a video broadcast by MSNBC on Tuesday, Cruz was asked for comment on the case, but simply responded “just call our press office” repeatedly.

NBC News: Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn avoid questions about Kate Cox abortion case
By Kate Santaliz and Frank Thorp V
November 12, 2023

• Cruz, pressed about the case three separate times, repeatedly told NBC News to call his press office without engaging further. His office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. When following up in the Capitol on Wednesday, Cruz again declined to answer multiple questions about the case.
  

• Cruz and Cornyn have championed their state’s restrictive abortion laws in the past…after the fall of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Cruz called the Texas ban “a massive victory” in an interview with Fox News.
  

• Colin Allred, D-Texas, said he wasn’t surprised to hear Cruz punted when he was asked about Cox’s case. “This is the outcome of years of extremists’ pushing for us to be in this position where we are now, where abortion is banned in effectively all cases,” Allred said. “It’s outrageous. And we have to address it at the national level by codifying Roe v. Wade, which is what I’ll do in the Senate, versus Ted Cruz, who wants a national ban.”

HuffPost: GOP Ducks Questions About Texas Woman Denied Abortion Despite Threat To Her Life
By Igor Bobic
December 12, 2023

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is up for reelection next year, also declined to answer questions about the matter, instructing reporters to call his office instead. A request for comment to Cruz’s office was not returned.
  
  
• The lawsuit follows the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade last year, which allowed Texas and other GOP-controlled states to crack down on access to abortion. Texas law now prohibits abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
  

• The passage of restrictive abortion laws…sparked an electoral backlash for the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections as well as in several state referendums. It’s an issue that will again be front and center in the 2024 election.

MSNBC: Texas’ Cruz, Cornyn dodge questions about Kate Cox abortion case
By Steve Benen 
December 13, 2023

• Both senators vote on judges who might consider abortion-rights cases; they’ll vote on public health officials who’ll help shape health care policy; and they might even be asked to consider proposed federal abortion bans in the near future, creating untold numbers of cases like Cox’s.
  

• The senators prefer to shrug their shoulders? Don’t their constituents deserve better?

Mediaite: Ted Cruz Repeatedly REFUSES to Comment on Texas Denying Woman a Medical Abortion: ‘Call Our Press Office’
By Michael Luciano
December 12, 2023

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had little to say when he was asked about the saga of Kate Cox, the Texas woman who was denied a medical abortion in his state. 
  

• “Do you support [what] the Texas attorney general did in blocking Kate Cox from getting an abortion after she found out her fetus was not viable?” Kate Santaliz of NBC News asked… “Are you worried about women in your state whose health may be at risk by Texas law?” she followed up.
  
• CRUZ: Just call our press office…

###