Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his response to a question about the lack of exception for cases of rape and incest in the state’s new abortion law.
On Tuesday, a reporter asked Abbott, “Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?”
He responded, “It doesn’t require that at all because it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion.”
Abbott added, “That said, however, let’s make something very clear. Rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked for Ocasio-Cortez’s response to the comments.
Calling Abbott’s comments “disgusting,” she added, “I don’t know if he is familiar with a menstruating person’s body. In fact, I do know that he’s not familiar with a female, or menstruating person’s body.”
Ocasio-Cortez continued, “Because if he did, he would know that you don’t have six weeks. … Six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period. And two weeks late on your period for any person with a menstrual cycle can happen if you’re stressed, if your diet changes, or for really, no reason at all. So you don’t have six weeks.”
Watch her comments below:
"He speaks from such a place of deep ignorance, and it's not just ignorance. It's ignorance that's hurting people."
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) September 8, 2021
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Texas's GOP Gov. Abbott for defending the state's abortion law by saying he's working to "eliminate all rapists." pic.twitter.com/lAGG731QGP
She argued “rape culture” and “misogynistic culture” informed the abortion law, adding, “Those beliefs are held by the governor himself and the Texas state legislature.”
Ocasio-Cortez went on to accuse Abbott of speaking “from such a place of deep ignorance, and it’s not just ignorance. It’s ignorance that’s hurting people across this country.”
Claiming the law is not about “supporting life,” Ocasio-Cortez explained it is about “controlling women’s bodies.”
“People like Governor Abbott and Mitch McConnell want to have more control over a woman’s body, than that woman, or that person has over themselves,” she said.
The law went into effect earlier this month, banning all abortions after six weeks.