Greg Abbott is against birth control, and he’s not trying to hide it from anyone.
After yesterday’s SCOTUS decision ruling that Hobby Lobby did not have to sponsor contraception healthcare for its employees, the Republican Gubernatorial candidate immediately rejoiced at the notion of a legal company gaining the right to discriminate against women on “religious grounds”. Per the tweet above, here’s his comment on the decision…
Great day for religious freedom & protecting life in the Hobby Lobby
#SCOTUS decision.#tcot@TexasGOP
In case you’ve forgot, this guy is running for Governor, with the election to be held on November 4th of this year. If he support this decision that strongly, what does that mean for women’s healthcare in the state of Texas? If Greg Abbott considers denying contraception to women as “protecting life”, then would he be willing to sign a bill banning contraception across the state??
At this point, we just don’t know the answer to that. Abbott has been very careful to never reveal his true thoughts on a range of women’s health services, including contraception and abortion. Here’s more from KHOU…
Abbott — a disciplined, on-message campaigner — dodges questions about just how far his opposition to abortion goes.
Questioned about whether he would support or oppose legislation banning abortions for rape or incest victims, Abbott avoids the question.
“Well, I’m pro-life,” he said during an interview after a campaign appearance in Houston. “And even under the laws that were passed by the Texas Legislature in this session that will be signed by the governor and that I’ll be defending in court, a woman is going to have five months to make a decision about having an abortion regardless of how that child was conceived. We’re working for a day when we’re actually protecting both the lives of the innocent unborn but also to protect the lives of the women who carry those children.”
When pressed again to directly answer the question, he dodges it.
“I support the legislation that was passed by the state Legislature during this special session, that the governor is going to sign into law and that I will be defending in court,” he said. “The battle is moving from the statehouse to the courthouse. And this is a law that is going to do even more to protect life in the state of Texas.”
Abbott’s precise position on abortion has been difficult to pin down. No question he’s very much on the pro-life side of the political spectrum, but it’s hard to determine exactly where on the spectrum his beliefs lie.
On the day after he declared for governor, the Houston Chronicle published a column in which veteran political reporter Peggy Fikac asked Abbott whether he would allow an exception in anti-abortion legislation to save the life of a mother.
“In a way, but you’re in a way kind of mischaracterizing the word,” he said. “It’s not like an exception. What both the medical community needs to do, and the pro-life community supports, is doing everything we can to protect the life of the mother.”
It’s hard to make sense of such vague platitudes, which should serve as a red flag to voters this November. If Greg Abbott supports a SCOTUS decision where Hobby Lobby essentially bans contraception, would he support banning contraception in the state of Texas? Could the use of birth control become a crime in the Lone Star State? These are questions that we are going to need answers to, and we better start asking them before it’s too late. He shouldn’t be allowed to run for Governor and also run away from these issues.