The Dallas Morning News has reported that Tea Party darling Ted Cruz accused abortion rights activists of yelling “Hail Satan” at a recent rally.

Cruz’s remarks were one of several Satan references made to disparage the pro-choice crowd this week by lawmakers.

Invoking fiery references to Satan, “savagery” and a “culture of death” to criticize their opponents, anti-abortion lawmakers on Wednesday insisted that Republican contenders keep an intense focus on social issues in the upcoming midterm elections and the 2016 presidential race.

Like many abortion opponents, the Susan B. Anthony List is in search of a White House contender who won’t shy from social issues after back-to-back presidential nominees in 2008 and 2012 who focused their campaigns on the economy and came up short. Several potential 2016 candidates were making their pitches in blunt terms, urging the group members to stick to their principles and fight those who would stand in their way.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said those who support abortion rights favor a “culture of death” and engage in “savagery.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who is a favorite of the tea party, reminded the crowd of activists that supporters of abortion rights chanted “Hail, Satan” to silence their enemies during a heated protest at the Texas Capitol.

And former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who ran for president in 2008 and is considering a 2016 campaign, said conservatives must work to “save every life that we can save.”

In the 2014 campaign for the Senate, Republican hopeful Greg Brannon of North Carolina stood by his previous claims that pro-abortion rights groups contemplate infanticide. Brannon, an obstetrician backed by several tea party groups, said that killing babies who survived abortions could happen in America, according to a video posted by Mother Jones magazine.

Read the full article here

Photo Credit: Laura Mardon