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Ted Cruz speaks at a rally in San Diego on April 11. | Getty Cruz dodges Chuck Todd's questions on personhood

Ted Cruz refused to say if he would support so-called personhood bills in an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd, according to a partial transcript released by the network ahead of Thursday's broadcast.

Pointing to the Texas senator's past history of wavering before eventually signing a pledge promising to support a personhood amendment to the Constitution in 2015, Todd asked, “Where are you on personhood? Are you going to pursue this as an agenda or are you just simply supporting the idea? Do you know what I mean by the difference?”

“Well listen, some of the labels in this debate can get confusing because different people mean different things about labels. I don’t want to get in a back and forth on labels,” Cruz responded. “I believe every human life is a gift from God and we should cherish and protect and celebrate them.”

The personhood amendment Cruz endorsed "would guarantee a constitutional right to life for every innocent human being, from earliest biological beginning until natural death," according to the Georgia Right to Life PAC.

As recently as February, Cruz released a video embracing personhood bills. "The right to life cannot be compromised like other issues, because a person can't be 80 percent alive and 20 percent dead," he said, vowing to back "legislation that defends the rights of all persons without exceptions, except to save the life of the mother, from conception to natural death."

After Todd pressed further, Cruz pivoted away from the topic, instead delving into his support for birth control.

“It is clear that Americans have a right to birth control,” Cruz said, adding that he is against any legislation that would restrict access.

Cruz has been outspoken about his fondness for birth control — at times uncomfortably so.

“Heidi and I, we have two little girls. I'm very glad we don't have 17,” he said at a campaign event earlier this year in Iowa. "Last I checked we don't have a rubber shortage in America. When I was in college we had a machine in the bathroom, you put .50 cents in and voila.”

Cruz repeated his joke about the number of kids to Todd but declined to answer when pressed if he thinks IUDs, which some conservatives oppose, are an acceptable form of contraceptive.

Todd then returned to personhood, asking: "Are you going to pursue it as an addendum?”

“I told you I’m not going to get into the labels, but what I will say is we should protect life. But I’m not interested in anything that restricts birth control. And I’m not interested in anything that restricts in vitro fertilization because I think parents who are struggling to create life, to have a child, that is a wonderful thing,” Cruz said, dodging further questions from Todd.

“Well, no one is questioning whether you’re pro-life. This is a different. That’s why I’m asking. Would you pursue this?” Todd asked again.

“I will happily support anything that protects life. And protecting life is a value that matters. Whether it is stopping partial birth abortion, which I think is a barbarism. Or whether it is fairly enforcing the criminal laws against Planned Parenthood. You know, a few months ago, we had this series of videos that were horrifying,” Cruz said.

During the town hall Cruz also weighed in on the controversial law in North Carolina that requires transgender people to use the bathroom of their biological birth, calling it a "perfectly reasonable determination for the people to make."

The law, which more generally rolls back local government protections for gay and transgender people, has set off a firestorm of criticism, including cancellations and boycotts from high-profile entertainers and businesses.

"Well, listen, I'm a constitutionalist. And the state has the power to pass their own laws to make a determination that men should not being going to the bathroom with little girls," Cruz said. "As the father of daughters, I'm not terribly excited about men being able to go alone into a bathroom with my daughters. And I think that is a perfectly reasonable determination for the people to make."

Todd asked Cruz if he felt the law had gone too far, suggesting that even the state's governor could be having reservations. On Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed an executive order in an attempt to cool some of the fury, but the bathroom provision remained intact. Cruz avoided responding to the question outright, but took the opportunity to bash the Obama administration.

"Listen, the political correctness that we have embraced. Enough already," Cruz said. "Listen, the Obama education department is going against a junior high. Insisting that the junior high must allow a teenage boy to shower with teenage girls. Now, that's just nuts. I mean, that's not a reasonable position, that's crazy."