Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the state of Florida in tonight’s GOP primary election race along with Illinois and North Carolina and he is leading in Missouri as of this writing.
Meanwhile pro-life Ohio Governor John Kasich captured his home state, making it more difficult for Trump to capture the party’s nomination for president. Ted Cruz, the pro-life senator from Texas, came in a close second in both North Carolina and Missouri and he finished third in both Florida and Ohio — giving him delegates in each state and keeping him in second in the campaign.
Following the announcement of the Florida results, Rubio dropped out of the race.
“This is the right way forward for our party, for our country,” Rubio told supporters in Miami. “But after tonight, it’s clear that while we are on the right side this year, we will not be on the winning side.”
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“While this may not have been the year for a hopeful or optimistic message about our future, I still remain hopeful and optimistic about America,” he added. “Do not give in to fear. Do not give in to frustration.”
Tonight’s results make it so the likelihood of a contested Republican convention is higher than ever.
After Florida and Ohio, Trump now needs almost 55% of delegates going forward to get a majority. To date, he’s won over 45% of delegates. With Rubio having dropped out of the race, his delegates and supporters are largely expected to support Cruz. Proving the point that no candidate has a stranglehold on delegates, Trump needs 55% of remaining delegates to win a majority, Cruz 69%, Kasich 88%.
When it comes to abortion, Trump has taken pro-life positions on abortion and said he would sign a bill defunding Planned Parenthood, but has concerned pro-life voters with his praise for Planned Parenthood. Earlier this month, Trump praised the nation’s biggest abortion conglomerate. Trump dismissed the notion he is not a true conservative because he supports Planned Parenthood, insisting he is “just doing what’s right.”
“Look, Planned Parenthood has done very good work for many, many — for millions of women,” Trump said in a news conference Tuesday night. “And I’ll say it, and I know a lot of the so-called conservatives, they say that’s really … cause I’m a conservative, but I’m a common-sense conservative.”
Trump said he would not fund Planned Parenthood “as long as you have the abortion going on,” but noted the “millions of people — and I’ve had thousands of letters from women — that have been helped.”
“And this wasn’t a set-up. This was women writing letters. But I’m going to be really good for women, I’m going to be good for women’s health issues, it’s very important to me. Very important to me,” he said.
Meanwhile, 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.
Last month, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill that will de-fund Planned Parenthood, which runs approximately one-third of the abortion centers in the Buckeye State. After the Planned Parenthood abortion company was caught in multiple states selling aborted babies and their body parts, several states have taken steps to de-fund it and Ohio is now the 10th state to take steps to end or cut Planned Parenthood funding.
As LifeNews previously reported, Gov. Kasich has a strong pro-life record and has advanced the pro-life cause in his state. In fact, under Gov. Kasich’s leadership, Ohio abortions dropped to an all time low and when he took office, the state had 18 abortion facilities and now they have 11. Ohio Right to Life, the state affiliate of National Right to Life, has supported Gov. Kasich in the past and worked with him on over a dozen pro-life initiatives in their state.
