Cruz Criticizes Trump: He’s Been Pro-Abortion for 60 Years, How Can We Trust Him Now?

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 12, 2016   |   11:34AM   |   Washington, DC

Put Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz in the category of those pro-life advocates who question the sincerity of Donald Trump’s pro-life conversion on abortion. During a campaign stop in South Carolina, Cruz questioned Trump’s pro-life bonafides, saying he has a hard time believing that someone who called himself pro-abortion for almost all his life could suddenly have a change of heart and become pro-life.

“If a candidate has spent 60 years of his life describing himself as very, very pro-choice. If a candidate has defended partial birth abortion for most of his adult life, we should not be surprised if, as president, he will not defend the right to life,” Cruz said, according to a Politico report

Some pro-life voters have questioned if Trump is truly pro-life, despite proclamations from Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin that his pro-life conversion is authentic.

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Trump ultimately changed his mind on abortion years ago, announcing his pro-life position in 2011, and on partial-birth abortion in the late 1990s after learning more about what the partial-birth abortion procedure actually entails.

“I support a woman’s right to choose, but I am uncomfortable with the procedures. When Tim Russert asked me on Meet the Press if I would ban partial-birth abortion, my pro-choice instincts led me to say no. After the show, I consulted two doctors I respect and, upon learning more about this procedure, I have concluded that I would support a ban,” he said in 2000.

Since his conversion, Trump doesn’t appear to have promoted abortion and continues to say he is pro-life and opposed to funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business. But, in early February, when asked on the campaign trail to provide more specifics about the kind of abortion policies he would implement as president, he declined to give any specifics.

Instead, he repeated what he has say countless times before that he is pro-life on abortion but without providing any further details about what he would do on a myriad of pro-life issues he will face as president — most notably naming judges to the Supreme Court who will determine the abortion policy for the nation for decades to come.

The lack of specifics has already caused a group of leading pro-life women to encourage pro-life voters not to vote for Trump.

In a letter provided to LifeNews, the group of pro-life women leaders claim Trump is not trustworthy on the abortion issue because offhanded comments he’s made make it appear he supports pro-abortion judges on the Supreme Court or a pro-abortion vice-presidential running mate. The group includes heavy hitters like Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List and Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America and black pro-life activist Star Parker.

The letter comes after an op-ed Trump wrote over the weekend outlining his pro-life views on abortion.

Trump opens the column explaining that he is pro-life with exceptions only for the very rarest abortions.

“Let me be clear — I am pro-life. I support that position with exceptions allowed for rape, incest or the life of the mother being at risk,” he said. “I did not always hold this position, but I had a significant personal experience that brought the precious gift of life into perspective for me.”

Trump said America has gone astray because it has moved away from the founding principles the nation’s founders put in most — most notably the right to life.

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