WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez harshly blasted comments made by Gov. Greg Abbott on Texas' new "heartbeat" abortion law that makes abortions illegal in the state after roughly six weeks.
When asked if victims of rape or incest should carry a pregnancy to full term, Abbott said the abortions could be done prior to six weeks.
“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. So for one, it doesn't provide that,” Abbott answered. “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. So goal number one in the state of Texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman, no person, will be a victim of rape.”
During an appearance on Anderson Cooper 360 on the Cable News NetworkTuesday night, Ocasio-Cortez said she considered Abbott's comments "disgusting."
“Well, I find Gov. Abbott’s comments disgusting, and I think there’s two-fold. One, I don’t know if he’s familiar with a menstruating person’s body. In fact, I do know that he’s not familiar with a woman — with a female or menstruating person’s body,” Ocasio-Cortez said, later adding, “I’m sorry we have to break it down — you know, break down biology 101 on national television, but in case no one has informed him before in his life, six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period.”
Ocasio-Cortez also said that Abbott's claim to rid Texas of rapists didn't sit well with her.
“The majority of people who are raped, and who are sexually assaulted, are assaulted by someone that they know. These aren’t just predators that are walking around the streets at night. They are people’s uncles, they are teachers, they are family friends,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And when something like that happens, it takes a very long time, first of all, for any victim to come forward. And second of all, when a victim comes forward, they don't necessarily want to bring their case into the carceral system. They don't want to re-traumatize themselves when they go to court.”
It led Ocasio-Cortez to finish her comments with a harsh statement about the governor.
"He speaks from a place of such deep ignorance,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “and it’s not just ignorance, it’s ignorance that is hurting people across this country.”
