The Second Republican Debate Takes On The Issue Of Planned Parenthood

The second Republican debate of 2015 took place on Wednesday night at the Reagan Library, aired by CNN. The Republican debate was moderated by Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Hugh Hewitt. Several of the most urgent issues were debated at length.

Planned Parenthood was one such hot topic. Passions ran high regarding the issue of abortion in general, and with the recent videos reportedly showing aborted babies born alive and the criminal allegations that abortion doctors are selling fetal tissue, the Republican presidential hopefuls took a good amount of time discussing the defunding of the organization.

You can find the entire transcript from the Republican debate at Time.

Dana Bash asked if Governor Kasich agrees with Senator Cruz, who is so passionate about defunding the controversial organization that he would risk a government shutdown.

LIVE BLOG: Kasich not on board with government shutdown over Planned Parenthood http://t.co/Te8qmoOkPt

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) September 17, 2015

Kasich responded that while he is in definite agreement to discontinue funding, he does not think the government should shut down over it. In his opinion, such a drastic move would serve no purpose, as it would shut down and reopen with no solution to the problem.

Ted Cruz subsequently gave an impassioned speech on the horrors of abortion.

“I’m proud to stand for life. These videos are horrifying. I would encourage every American to watch the videos. Seeing your Planned Parenthood officials callously, heartlessly bartering and selling the body parts of human beings, and then ask yourself, ‘Are these my values?'”

There is no debate among the leading Republican nominees on whether or not the organization should lose funding — they all agree it should. Kasich made this point when he asked why they were wasting Republican debate time on the topic.

“We all agree,” he said. “Let’s ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb to preserve their body parts.”

Carly Fiorina had some strong views on the subject as well.

“…anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.

“This is about the character of our nation, and if we will not stand up in and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us.”

Jeb Bush is one of the only Republicans in the debate who has acted on his pro-life stance because, he said, “Life is a gift from God.” As a Republican governor of Florida, he defunded Planned Parenthood, added parental notification, and used state money to help fund crisis pregnancy centers.

On this topic, if no other, the Republican presidential nominees have nothing to debate. While the second Republican debate saw its share of arguing, at least we know where the nominees stand on the issues.

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