Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sparked the ire of the internet after he defended new abortion laws in Texas by saying victims of rape and incest will have “at least six weeks” to terminate their pregnancy.
Abbott’s comments came after asked why he was forcing a rape or incest victim to carry their child to term on Tuesday.
“It doesn’t require that at all, because obviously it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion,” he replied.
As expected, Abbott was blasted on social media for the comments, with many pointing out that most women don’t know that they’re pregnant at six weeks.
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One person said: “Your complete lack of compassion (and, in fact, active hatred) for the experiences of survivors and all people who need abortions is so sickening.”
And abortion advocacy group Avow Texas wrote “that’s not how pregnancy calculation or abortion care work”.
Under the law, private citizens are essentially deputized with the promise of $10,000 bounties to file lawsuits against anyone accused of aiding or abetting the practice of an abortion after six weeks, other than the patient themselves.
Clinics offering abortions in Texas have already started turning patients away and around 7 million women in Texas are thought to be at risk of losing access to legal and safe abortions.
Last week, the US Supreme Court decided by a 5-4 margin, not to act against the Texas law and allow it to go into effect even though it goes against the precedent of Roe v Wade from 1973.
This was despite the strenuous objections of the court’s three liberal justices, who were joined by Chief Justice John Roberts in dissenting.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor described the court’s order as “stunning”.
“Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of Justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand,” she wrote.
Abbott’s approval rating plummeted to its lowest rating since his 2014 election this week, according to a survey from The Texas Policy Project at the University of Texas at Austin. It found just 42 percent of Texans approve of the direction the state is going in, while 52 percent said the state was on the wrong path, the worst figure recorded by the institute since it started in 2008.
Check Abbott’s comments and some of the reactions below.
Reporter: Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX): "It doesn't require that at all, because obviously it provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." pic.twitter.com/Mbx5JVHG1D
— The Recount (@therecount) September 7, 2021
Right because young victims of incest can’t wait to share the details with their family members.
— CAT LOVER (@eugenececil1990) September 7, 2021
Pregnancy begins at date of last period, not conception, so its a 4-week window. Most women menstruate roughly every 4 weeks (though many are not so regular), so how exactly is one supposed to know one is pregnant in time to schedule an abortion?
— Nancy Appelbaum (@NancyAppelbaum) September 7, 2021
People who don’t have at least an 8th grade level understanding of science should not be able to make laws about it. Menstrual irregularities are extremely common. Few are going to realize they’re pregnant at only 2 weeks late because so many of us don’t menstruate every 4 wks.
— barely a spec 🏳️🌈 (@barely_a_spec) September 7, 2021
He’s says that in bad faith. Legislators knew exactly what they were doing. pic.twitter.com/aledfLBDa9
— Tony (@tony15202) September 7, 2021
Just stop all rapes. Got it. Sounds like a hell of a plan. How has nobody ever thought of this before?
— CastorTroy (@202castortroy) September 7, 2021
Does @GOPLeader know how pregnancy works?
— medit8now (@medit8now) September 7, 2021
A 12 yr old incest victim doesnt know shes pregnant by 6 wks.
FFS.
— TrumpOrg=Crime Syndicate. Lock Them Up (@TerriIsSickOfU) September 7, 2021
Just curious. Since Texas insists on no abortion for rape victims, does Texas help support that child after birth? Or is the mother on her own?
— Brent Spiner (@BrentSpiner) September 7, 2021
Old white guy has no idea how pregnancy works. Very predictable.
— Bruno in the Bay (@BrunoTheGreat32) September 7, 2021
You understand many of those rapists are uncles, daddy's friends, coaches, deacons, pastors, ministers, high school and college football/sports stars, dates, boyfriends, lovers, husbands, friends, neighbors, ex-boyfriends, ex-husbands, husbands' friends, bosses, cohorts, POLICE. pic.twitter.com/QzBPF5V8ho
— K.C. (@MendoKC) September 7, 2021
says the man who has never been raped, never had his bodily organs regulated
Women who have been raped don't just get over the rape in the blink of an eye. And some surely don't emotionally recover from it quickly enough to catch an unwanted pregnancy in 6 wks.
body
mind
soul
— Maureen Moore (@HopesMom12) September 7, 2021
I really don’t understand this. I used to really believe this was about religion but I can’t see that at all anymore. It’s just control, punishing women for having sex. It’s just isn’t anything more.
— wpwashington (@wpseattle1) September 7, 2021
@GregAbbott_TX: your damn bill doesn't give women 6 weeks to get an abortion. It gives them 2 at most & that assumes their HcG levels are high enough the day their period is due to register a pregnancy. Stop legislating our bodies! You don't even know how they work!!
— Pat Williams 🌍♻🔬 (@ProudLibPat) September 7, 2021
Did this guy pass high school biology? The six weeks begins on the first day of someone’s last period, but the average timing of ovulation is between days 11 and 21 of their cycle.
So no, you don’t have six weeks to get an abortion.
— Fauci Unbound (@zeepetals) September 7, 2021
