Right to Contraception Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I want to thank the Senator from Iowa for her legislation, important legislation, protecting the right to birth control and making it easier for women to have access to birth control pills over the counter.

This is something we all agree on. This is something Americans across this Nation agree upon. This is a right that is protected in all 50 States.

In just a few minutes, we are going to see Democrats engage in a show vote. And there is a reason for that show vote: because Democrats in the Senate--every one of them--their views on abortion are extreme and radical. Every Democrat in this body has voted repeatedly in favor of unlimited abortion on demand, literally up until the moment of birth-- partial-birth abortion in the 39th and 40th week of pregnancy. That is an extreme position. I will tell you nationally, 9 percent of Americans agree with that position. Madam President, 91 percent of Americans look at that extreme position and say: That is too far.

And, indeed, even among those Americans who call themselves pro- choice and a majority of pro-choice Americans say, Late-term abortions up until the moment of birth, that is extreme. So what do the Democrats do? They recognize that 91 percent of Americans disagree with their extreme position, so they try to change the topic. And in particular, they are trying to change the topic to birth control.

Now, all 100 Senators--every single Senator--agrees that birth control should be protected as a matter of law. And yet what did we just see? We saw Senator Ernst introducing her legislation, legislation of which I am a cosponsor. Together, we are leading the fight to protect the right to birth control, and what happened? The Democrats objected.

Why did they object? Understand why they objected. Because they want to use this as an issue in November to scare people, and they don't want to talk about their own radical record. Instead, they want to falsely claim somebody is coming to take contraception. That is deliberately false. And so when you see millions of dollars of TV ads paid for by Democrats, ask yourself one question: Why did the Democrats just block Senator Ernst's and my legislation protecting the right to birth control? Because this is not about protecting this right; it is about politics for the Democrats hiding their own radical view.

I wish we would come together. By the way, next week I predict the Democrats are going to do the same thing. I have legislation protecting in vitro fertilization, another incredible medical miracle that, again, to the best of my knowledge, all 100 Senators support. Katie Britt and I together have introduced that legislation, and, yet, I fully expect next week the Democrats to do what they just did today, which is object to it because they are playing politics and they are unwilling to actually put in Federal law a real and strong protection.

I know it is campaign season, but it is unfortunate that Democrats are not willing to work together. Had they not uttered two words, ``I object,'' Senator Ernst and my legislation protecting the right to birth control would have passed out of this body. But Senate Democrats didn't want it to.

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