Focus on abortion rights
O’rourke leans into the contentious issue while campaigning in Boerne
Democratic candidate for governor Beto O’rourke leaned into the issue of abortion during a stop in Boerne on Friday, dedicating much of an hourlong speech to the topic ahead of a reproductive rights rally in Houston on Saturday.
Days after the Supreme Court leak of a landmark opinion on abortion rights, O’rourke blasted the looming decision and a series of laws passed by the Legislature that would ban abortion in Texas even in cases of rape and incest if the justices follow through and overturn Roe v. Wade.
O’rourke said it’s all adding up to a “devastating” week but called on hundreds of supporters to channel that frustration energy into the November elections that are now just six months away.
“The antidote to despair is action; committing ourselves to the fight ahead,” O’rourke said
For years the conventional wisdom in Democratic politics in Texas has been to de-emphasize abortion issues out of fear that it would hurt candidates in a state that many consider to be against abortion rights. But this week, O’rourke made clear he won’t hide from the issue.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has also been outspoken on the issue, urging the court to issue the ruling immediately. .
O’rourke has released several statements on social media including a lengthy discussion with Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He also held a news conference Thursday in Austin with former state Sen. Wendy Davis, whose 2013 filibuster of anti-abortion legislation in the Senate gained her national recognition.
And on Friday, O’rourke made abortion rights central to his speech in Boerne, which is in very conserva
tive Kendall County. O’rourke in 2018 won just 22 percent of the county’s vote against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
In Houston on Thursday, Abbott made it clear that he wants the campaign to turn into a battle over abortion. He pointed to his 2014 race against Davis.
“2014 was a referendum on abortion, and I won that race by 20 points,” Abbott said. “I feel confident based upon my past history with regard to the issue … that I’m going to win just as easily this year.”
Davis has pushed back against Abbott’s characterization of the race.
“2014 was not a referendum on abortion rights,” Davis said. “Most voters had no idea who Greg Abbott was when they voted for him. They defaulted to
their Republican voting habit without a full understanding of exactly what they were voting for.”
Abbott had been the Texas attorney general from 2002 until his run for
governor in 2014. This year he is seeking his third four-year term in office.
Texans’ position on abortion has been at times unclear in public polling. The Texas Politics Project
at the University of Texas at Austin released a poll in February that found 53 percent of Texans oppose a complete ban on abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.