TEXAS - Texas Sen. Ted Cruz received a lot of heat on Twitter Wednesday and Thursday for a tweet stating that pregnancy is “not a life-threatening illness.”

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. Ted Cruz criticized for tweeting concerning pregnancy

  • Was referencing abortion pill Mifeprix

  • CDC says roughly 700 women die from pregnancy-related causes in the U.S. each year 

Cruz was drawing attention to a plan he and other Republican senators have to get an abortion pill called Mifeprix classified as a dangerous medication.

“Pregnancy is not a life-threating illness, and the abortion pill does not cure any illness or disease,” Cruz wrote. “Make no mistake, Mifeprix is a dangerous pill. That’s why 20 of my Republican colleagues and I are urging @US_FDA to classify it as such.”

While pregnancy itself is generally not regarded as an illness even in the worst cases, it can certainly lead to complications or even death. CNN analyst Susan Hennessey was among those who criticized Cruz’s tweet, stating, in part, “The idea the [sic] pregnancy is not threatening for some women is just a lie.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 700 women die each year in the United States due to pregnancy or delivery complications.

In addition, the CDC reports that about 60 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable and that women of color are disproportionately affected. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women are about three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women, the CDC states.