Texas Gov. Rick Perry launched a personal attack on the woman who led a successful 13-hour filibuster in the state Legislature Tuesday to halt legislation that would have effectively shut down most abortion clinics and ban the procedure after 20 weeks.
"Even the woman who filibustered was born into difficult circumstances," the Republican said Thursday about Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis in a speech to the National Right to Life Convention,
Politico reported.
Urgent: Supreme Court Right on Gay Marriage? Vote Here Now
"She was the daughter of a single woman. She was a teenage mother herself. She managed to eventually graduate [from] Harvard Law School and serve in the Texas Senate," the governor said. "It's just unfortunate that she hasn't learned from her own example that every life must be given a chance to realize its own potential; that every life matters."
His comments came after
Davis' filibuster prevented the measure from getting passed before the end of a special legislative session.
"This is simply too important a cause to allow the unruly actions of a few to stand in its way," Perry said, accusing those who protested against the measure at the state capitol Tuesday night of "hijacking the democratic process."
Perry has called for another special session for July 1 and pledged the Texas Legislature would ban abortion after 20 weeks.
"We witnessed the very extremes the pro-abortion forces resort to in order to further their cause. They demonstrate that even if they lose at the ballot box, even if they come up short in attempts to stall on the Senate floor, they'll resort to mob tactics to force their minority agenda on the people of Texas."
He added, "Going forward, we have to match their intensity, but we have to do it with the grace and civility and dignity that our cause deserves."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.