Topline
Texas Governor. Greg Abbott suggested Sunday that he wouldn't sign legislation adding exemptions for incest and rape to Texas' controversial abortion law. Instead, he continued to insist that the state would work towards eliminating rape and not allowing victims to get abortions.
Greg Abbott, Texas Governor, speaks in Tyler, Texas on September 7. ASSOCIATED PRS
The Key Facts
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace referred to the fact that abortion is prohibited after six weeks. He asked if it was reasonable to tell a victim of rape who didn't know they were pregnant in the time it took to get an abortion. "Well, don’t worry about it. Because we’re going to eradicate rape as problem." Abbott acknowledged that victims of sexual assault need support, care, and compassion. He only pointed to the things his administration had done against rape like creating a task force for sexual assault survivors and seeking death penalty against rapists. Wallace asked Abbott if he would sign legislation to add incest and rape to Texas's law (Senate Bill 8). Abbott replied that he didn't, because he was certain such a bill wouldn’t pass. While the governor defended SB 8, he claimed it was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, which gives states the right of protecting the safety both the mother as well as the child. However, SB 8 goes against Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade and prohibits abortions after six weeks. SB 8 has an exception that allows abortions to be performed after six weeks in medical emergencies.
Big Number
14,656 This is the total number of rapes reported in Texas in 2019, as per the Texas Department of Safety. Data for 2019 are not available. Wallace admitted Sunday that this number is likely to be a significant undercount because many cases of rape or sexual assault are not reported.
Surprising Fact
Abbott claimed that Texas' abortion law protects the life of all children with a heartbeat. The law also bans surgical abortions if a fetal beat is detected. However, medical experts have criticized the misleading descriptor. OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an associate Professor at the University of California San Francisco, stated that this is not a method of detecting a functional cardiac system or a functioning heart. She also said that there is nothing specific or meaningful about the detection of cardiac activity during this gestation. This is relevant for women's pregnancies and for their health.
Important Background
SB 8 was signed into law on September 1st. It is widely criticized for its strict restrictions on abortion, the most severe in the U.S. since Roe V. Wade in 1973. Even anti-abortion Republicans such as Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R.Ill.), have found that the law's lack of exclusions for rape or incest victims is causing a lot of controversy. Recent Gallup polls found that 83% of Americans support legalizing abortion in cases of rape or incest. This is higher than the 62% who believe it should be legal in all cases. Abbott was heavily criticized for failing to include these exemptions in the legislation. On September 7, the governor claimed that SB 8 doesn't stop rape victims getting abortions because they can still obtain them before six weeks, which is when most people know they are pregnant. He also claimed that the absence of exemptions was justified since the Texas government would do everything in its power to eliminate all rapists.
Continue reading
Gov. Abbott Claims Texas Will Eliminate Rapists In Defending Abortion Ban (Forbes)
Texas Abortion Ban Goes Too Far For Even Some Republicans: A Little Bit Extreme (Forbes)
Texas Abortion Ban Relies on 'Fetal Heartbeat. Doctors Call This Misleading (NPR).
