Gov. Perry Scolds Wendy Davis for Not Heeding ‘Her Own Example’
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(DALLAS) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday slammed Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis, who filibustered a GOP-backed 20-week abortion ban this week, for not learning from “her own example” as a teen mother.
“She was the daughter of single woman, she was a teenage mother herself,” Perry said Thursday at the National Right to Life Convention in Dallas. “She managed to eventually graduate from Harvard Law School and serve in the Texas Senate.
“It’s just unfortunate that she hasn’t learned from her own example that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential and that every life matters.”
Davis Tuesday launched a 13-hour filibuster that required her to talk on the floor about the bill without taking any bathroom or food breaks in an effort to stop the bill’s passage in a heavily Republican Texas state legislature.
Davis responded Thursday saying that Perry’s comments do not reflect “Texas values”
“Rick Perry’s statement is without dignity and tarnishes the high office he holds,” she said to Texas station WFAA. “They are small words that reflect a dark and negative point of view.”
“Our governor should reflect our Texas values. Sadly, Gov. Perry fails that test,” Davis added.
The effort was successful initially, but Perry has pledged to bring the legislature back for a second special section to take up the bill again.
“I’m all about honest, open debate. Parliamentary tactics are certainly nothing new,” Perry said. “But what we witnessed Tuesday was nothing more that the hijacking of the Democratic process.”
Perry said that pro-abortion forces have resorted to “extremes” to further their cause and he pledged that the 20-week ban will pass in the legislature.
“They demonstrated 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,” Perry said.
Perry announced Wednesday that he would call a special legislative session giving lawmakers a second chance to push the bill though.
“This is simply too important a cause to allow the unruly actions of a few to stand in its way,” he added, calling the “pro-life” agenda a “civil rights issue” and a “human rights issue.
“And that is the reason that I have announced that I am bringing lawmakers back to Austin, Texas, to finish their business,” he said. “And I put pro-life measures at the top of that call list.”
Planned Parenthood also jumped in to condemn Perry’s comments.
“Rick Perry’s remarks are incredibly condescending and insulting to women,” said Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards. ”This is exactly why the vast majority of Texans believe that politicians shouldn’t be involved in a woman’s personal health care decisions.”
“Women are perfectly capable of deciding whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child, and they don’t need Rick Perry’s help making that decision,” Richards said.
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