Beto O’Rourke: TX Abortion Laws Are About ‘Power And Control Over Women’

You said yesterday that you can't let this happen. What can you do as governor, given that these laws are already in place in Texas? Texas is a place where so much of this started, as you know. This laboratory for extremism when it comes to voter suppression, when it comes to things like permitless carry, and now ending the right to privacy, the right to abortion, starting from conception. But Texas is also the place where we can overcome this, fight it, and defeat it. We've got to win this race for governor. That's essential. And then we've got to use that power to return power back to the people of Texas, importantly the women and the girls, as you pointed out, who are under attack right now. The governor of the state of Texas has extraordinary power. We've seen that used for evil purposes by the current governor, Greg Abbott. We could use it for good. And I know that there is actually bipartisan support on the part of voters across the state of Texas. Only 30% agree with this abortion ban that our current governor signed into law. The majority of us, Democrats, Independents, Republicans, want something better. That pressure of public sentiment here in Texas on those legislators, Democrat, Republican alike, with a Democratic governor who's going to restore the right to choose and for every woman to make her own decisions about her own body, her own health care, her own future, that's the way forward. But we've got to win. This is about power, Lawrence. It's not about life on the part of Greg Abbott. This is about power and control over women. And on our part, it's about winning political power and returning that power back to the people of Texas. It's why it's so important that we win this race. We're so grateful for the people who are joining us. And in fact, we're asking Texans of good conscience to meet us in Houston this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Discovery Green to rally for this right and then to commit ourselves to doing the work necessary to win this election. As soon as the Supreme Court officially releases its opinion on this, Texas immediately goes back 50 years, abortion completely illegal in the state of Texas. That's going to leave some 13-year-old girls, some teenage girls who are rape victims or otherwise in trouble with a pregnancy, not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go. If those girls are going to get abortion services, someone's going to have to get them out of the state of Texas. Is anyone working on that? There are a lot of people who are working on this right now in Texas, especially for those who otherwise would not have the resources to be able to make their own decisions and to address the circumstances they might find themselves in, especially in these most egregious and violent cases where women and girls have been raped, in some cases by members of their own family. To be clear, there is no exception in this Texas trigger law for incest or for rape. No exception whatsoever. But one thing I want everyone to remember is that not only can we overcome this, not only is it possible, we've done this before in the state of Texas against tougher odds. Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade was a Texan. So was Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffey, who successfully argued her case before the Supreme Court and rendered that decision in 1973. All of that came from Texas following a period where it was illegal and criminalized here in this very state. So we know that power is within us right now. We're going to do what it takes because no cavalry is riding to the rescue here in the state of Texas. This one's on us. But a majority of us want to do the right thing. And you'll see that majority show up in November. But to make sure, we're going to knock on their doors and we're asking people to sign up, to volunteer, to get after it. That's the only way we overcome it, by winning political power in incredibly important races like this one here in Texas.