On January 27, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced the formation of his new anti-choice coalition: “Pro-Life For Cruz.” As part of the announcement, Cruz named anti-choice extremist Troy Newman as a “national co-chair” of the group, despite Newman's problematic history of harassing abortion providers and endorsing violent rhetoric about them.

Reporting for The Nation on January 28, George Zornick detailed why Cruz's “doubling down on his connection with Newman” was as problematic as Newman's own appalling history of anti-choice activism. According to Zornick, Cruz praised Newman for having “led the charge for the pro-life cause” and being a “true inspiration.” Yet Newman has a well-established history of harassing abortion providers and spouting violence-endorsing rhetoric against them.

As the president of the anti-choice organization Operation Rescue, Newman argued that “the murder of abortion doctors is legally permissible” and he openly harassed clinic employees. In his radical book Their Blood Cries Out, Newman suggested that 9/11, AIDS, and even California's historic drought were all punishments from God for allowing legal abortion. Newman's views are so extreme that, as The New York Times reported in 2015, Australia cancelled Newman's visa over “concerns that he might encourage violence against abortion providers or women seeking the procedures.”

Most recently, Newman served as a board member of The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the organization responsible for propagating a smear campaign so fraudulent that the organization earned the title of Media Matters' Misinformer of the Year for 2015. Last week, the president of CMP, David Daleiden, and one of his co-conspirators were indicted by a grand jury in Harris County, Texas for their involvement in this attack on Planned Parenthood. Troy Newman is no longer on the board of CMP -- as The New York Times reported, he “resigned from the center's board when Mr. Daleiden was indicted.”

As The Nation's Zornick noted, Cruz also praised Tony Perkins, the leader of known hate group Family Research Council for agreeing to lead the “Pro-Life For Cruz” coalition. From The Nation:

With the Iowa caucuses only days away, Senator Ted Cruz has announced the formation of a “Pro-Lifers for Cruz” coalition that aims to “champion every child, born and unborn.”

Among the national co-chairs of that coalition is Troy Newman, one of the more malevolent figures in the anti-choice movement. He is the president of the radical anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, and a board member at the Center for Medical Progress, which just saw two employees indicted in Houston for deceptions conducted while creating the now-infamous “baby parts” videos that targeted Planned Parenthood.

Newman has often suggested that the murder of abortion doctors is legally permissible, and his group has been connected to several notorious anti-choice acts of violence over the past 20 years.

It would be virtually impossible not to be aware of this fact--it defines Newman's career--yet Cruz said in a statement Wednesday that “Every single national co-chair in this coalition has led the charge for the pro-life cause and is a true inspiration.” Newman formally endorsed Cruz back in November, which created a small stir-up in the press, and Cruz is now doubling down on his connection with Newman.

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Pro-choice advocates quickly noticed Cruz's bear hug of Newman. “Given that this announcement came out after [David Daleiden's] indictment, I'm pretty shocked that he included him,” said Sasha Bruce, NARAL's vice president of campaigns and strategies. “It's not enough that he made his endorsement at a presidential level of somebody who advocates violence, he has now been indicted.”