Fact Check

No, GOP Senator Didn't Say Saving Fetus Is Worth Losing Mother's Life

The statement attributed to Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, spread widely on social media in May 2022.

Published May 6, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 5: Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) speaks to reporters on his way to a vote at the U.S. Capitol on January 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. Congress is preparing will mark the one year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot on Thursday. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Image courtesy of Getty Images
Claim:
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said it's worth losing a pregnant mother's life if it means saving an unborn fetus.

Fact Check

In early May 2022, after the leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion revealed that the justices were set to overturn Roe v. Wade, social media users claimed that U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., once said it's worth losing a pregnant mother's life if it means saving an unborn fetus. However, no evidence corroborated the accusation, and a spokesperson for the senator told us he never said those words.

Among the posts that falsely attributed the sentiment to Cramer was the above-displayed tweet. Thousands of Twitter users retweeted or favorited it, and according to screenshots captured by Business Insider reporter Grace Panetta, that included Rubén Gallego, a Democratic congressman from Arizona. He retweeted, and then deleted his retweet.

After searching for news articles about Cramer, we found no record of his having ever said those words, or expressed the same sentiment in different words, in any interview or speech. Additionally, in an email to Snopes, Cramer's spokesperson Molly Block confirmed that he never made the alleged comment. For those reasons, we rated the claim "False."

Also, Block said, while Cramer has an anti-abortion stance, he supports exceptions in cases where a pregnancy must be terminated to save the mother's life.

"Senate Cramer is pro-life and that means standing for ALL life, which inherently includes the child and the mother," Block wrote. "If Roe were to be reversed, North Dakota has a trigger law in place, which includes exceptions for [the] life of the mother, and rape/incest. Senator Cramer is supportive of this."

As we noted above, the fake comment attributed to Cramer spread amid controversy over a leaked Supreme Court draft decision, obtained by Politico and published on May 2, 2022. See here for more of Snopes' reporting on the leak and debunking of abortion-related rumors over the years.

Sources

Gerstein, Josh and Alexander Ward. “Exclusive: Supreme Court Has Voted to Overturn Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows.” POLITICO, 2 May 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more

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