Chris Wallace welcomed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on “Fox News Sunday,” where the anchor repeatedly pressed the politician regarding the lack of an omission for rape and incest in his state’s near-total abortion ban.
Wallace stated to Abbott whether the bizarre promise to eliminate rapists played a factor in not having exemptions for these women. The host replayed the governor’s remarks declaring he would “eliminate rape” before stating that in 2019 there were over 15,000 rapes reported in Texas.
“Is it reasonable to say to somebody who was the victim of rape and might not understand that they are pregnant, you know, until six weeks, ‘Well, don’t worry about it because we are going to eliminate rape as a problem in the state of Texas?'” Wallace asked Abbott.
“Well, there’s multiple things I have to say in answer to this, but the first thing obviously is that survivors of sexual assault, they deserve support, care, and compassion, and Texas is stepping up to make sure that we provide that by signing a law and creating in the governor’s office a sexual assault survivors task force,” Abbott responded.
“But separately from that, Chris, I got to point out about the ways that I have fought to go to arrest and apprehend and try to eliminate rape. I sought the death penalty.”
Once again, Wallace repeated the thousands of reported rapes under the governor’s tenure, stating that a GOP state lawmaker has introduced a measure to the abortion law that would give rape and incest exceptions.
“If that came to your desk, will you sign it or not?” Wallace asked Abbott. The Texas governor responded by saying that they passed to “protect the lives of every child with a heartbeat.”
As a result, Wallace fired back: “Including the child of a rape?!”
“First, I’ve got to tell you, Chris, you’re making a hypothetical that’s not going to happen because that bill is not going to reach my desk,” Abbott answered. “But second, again, the goal is to protect the life of every child with a heartbeat.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
