Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis on Friday took Gov. Rick Perry to task over highly personal comments he made about her the day before.
“I would say to him, that I had the privilege of making a choice about the path I chose for my life,” Davis, a Fort Worth Democrat who derailed a restrictive abortion bill in the Texas legislature earlier this week, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I’m so proud of my daughters but I could never for a moment put myself in the shoes of another woman confronting a difficult personal choice and it really isn’t for him to make statements like that.”
On Thursday, the Republican governor said it was “unfortunate” that Davis, who for a time was a single mother, “hasn’t learned from her own example. That every life must be given a chance to realize its own potential; that every life matters.”
Their exchange caps off a week of intense national scrutiny of the Lone Star State. On Tuesday, Davis spearheaded a 13-hour filibuster that ultimately prevented a far-reaching abortion measure from being signed into law. A day later, Perry swung back by calling for a new special session of the legislature, which would prioritize that abortion legislation again. The session is set to kick off on Monday and this time around, the bill could pass more easily.
“The strategy, honestly, will be to hopefully employ the individual voices once again that really made the difference on this issue in the last special session,” Davis said.
She acknowledged that last time, the Democrats had an advantage: the bill wasn’t addressed until the end of the session, so there was a chance to delay the finalization of the vote until after the session concluded.
“Obviously they let the clock run out,” she said. “They put themselves in a position where a tremendous opportunity was put in front of us.”
Striking a tone of optimism, Davis concluded, “I expect that [citizens are] going to do everything they can to ensure their voices are heard again in this next special session. I only hope that people will listen.”
Davis strikes back against Perry
No comments:
Post a Comment