Greg Abbott slammed after suggesting rape victims can take Plan B pill ‘to prevent pregnancy’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said rape victims can take an emergency contraception pill to avoid getting pregnant.
• The Republican governor made the remark during an interview on “Lone Star Politics” the Dallas Morning News reported. 
• Abbott has been slammed by Democrats, including gubernatorial challenger Beto O’Rourke, for his remarks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been slammed for suggesting that rape victims can take a Plan B pill to avoid getting pregnant.

During an interview segment on “Lone Star Politics,” Abbott said, “We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it,” the Dallas Morning News reported.

“By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place,” Abbott added, referring to the emergency contraception pill, “With regard to reporting it to law enforcement, that will ensure that the rapist will be arrested and prosecuted.”

Texas is among the states that banned abortions after the landmark ruling, Roe v. Wade, was overturned earlier this year due to trigger laws. In the state, there are no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, a restriction that is highly criticized by advocates.

In response to a tweet by the Dallas Morning News sharing Abbott’s comments, Democrat Beto O’ Rourke said: “We are going to end Greg Abbott’s career on November 8, and the women of Texas are going to lead the way.”

In a statement to the Dallas Morning News, a campaign spokesperson for O’Rourke highlighted that the state “leads the nation in rape cases on his watch.”

Abbott promised to “eliminate all rapists” in the state during a press conference last year. 

“So goal No. 1 in the state of Texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman, no person, will be a victim of it,” Abbott after the law that bans people from undergoing abortion after a fetal “heartbeat” can be detected on an ultrasound went into effect.

Olivia Julianna, a Texas-based activist, wrote: “It is so uniquely cruel to force pregnancy on people in a state with the worst access to prenatal and maternal healthcare in the country, and then to say rape victims should just take Plan B to prevent pregnancy.

“But of course @GregAbbott_TX is a special type of evil.”

Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett tweeted: “Wow. Greg Abbott says rape victims can access Plan B instead of getting abortions. Meanwhile…Texas leads the nation in the number of rape incidents—and the arrest rate has fallen by half since he took office.”

Source: Newsweek