In Iowa, Ted Cruz praises condoms

When asked by an audience member to clarify his stance on making contraception available for women, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) launched into a four-minute speech on Monday that extolled the ubiquitousness of condoms.

"Anyone who wants contraceptives can access them," he said during the campaign stop in Bettendorf, Iowa. As a lifelong conservative, Cruz said, he "never met anybody, any conservative who wants to ban contraceptives. Last I checked, we don't have a rubber shortage in America. Like look, when I was in college, we had a machine in the bathroom. You put 50 cents in — and voila!"

Cruz also revealed that because of contraceptives, there aren't more small Cruzes running around. "[My wife] Heidi and I, we have two little girls," he said. "I'm very glad we don't have 17." He went on to say that during previous election cycles, "Republicans would curl up in a ball" when it came time to talk about women's reproductive health matters. "They'd say, 'Don't hurt me,'" Cruz said. "Jiminy Cricket! This is a made-up, nonsense example."

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While Cruz showed that he knows what condoms are used for and their price in the early 1990s, he didn't discuss other forms of contraception, like birth control pills, which not only prevent pregnancies but are also used to treat a variety of health issues, from acne to polycystic ovarian syndrome.