Many Republicans, while theoretically pro-life, are afraid to talk about abortion, for fear of appearing insensitive to women.  Ted Cruz is turning that belief on its head by speaking out effectively for the pro-life cause.

When President Obama said he would keep a seat empty at the State of the Union for victims of gun violence, Cruz said, "If I'm elected POTUS, there'll be an empty seat for the over 50 million unborn children killed since Roe."  That's a very effective response to Obama.

Then, in a town hall on January 7, Cruz made a number of remarkable points.  He said that the so-called "War on Women" is about access to contraception (a phony issue) but not abortion, because the Democrats are afraid to talk about abortion.  Cruz hit Hillary Clinton for supporting abortion on demand until the moment of birth, including partial-birth abortion, with taxpayer funding and not even parental notification for minors who have abortions.  Cruz went on to say that those were radical left-wing positions and that only 9% of Americans agree with her.  "Ninety-one-percent of Americans listen to Hillary Clinton on abortion and say, 'That is out there,'" said Cruz.

Cruz also said Wendy Davis, who ran for governor of Texas as a Democrat on a platform supporting late-term abortions, was so unpopular even in the Democratic primary that she lost 22 counties to a token opponent candidate who hadn't spent a dime campaigning.

"The way we win is, we bring back the millions of conservatives who are staying home.  We don't run away from life," said Cruz, to applause.

I wish the other major candidates would do the same.  I have never heard Marco Rubio talk about abortion, other than to say that he will "follow God's plan" (in his latest ad, he answers only questions about football).  As for Donald Trump, he also doesn't talk about abortion, except to say he supports funding the "good things" Planned Parenthood does.

If one of these two becomes the nominee, I think he will miss an opportunity to campaign on an issue that would be a winning one.

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.