Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott avoided answering directly when asked whether he would support rape and incest exceptions to the state's stringent abortion ban, during a wide-ranging interview with ABC13 on Sunday.
The governor spoke with political reporter Tom Abrahams in Houston about hot-button topics such as abortion and immigration following Rep. Dan Crenshaw's, R-Texas, annual youth summit.
Texas enacted one of the strictest abortion laws in the country in the wake of the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in late June, which makes no exceptions aside from the health of the mother.
While Abbott told ABC13 that he anticipates a bill that clarifies language in the current law, he did not indicate exactly what language he would back.
"We must both clarify and make sure that the medical profession is doing everything that they can to protect the mother's life," the governor said.
"We must make clear that the mother's life is just as important as the child's life and that doctors must take action to protect the mother's life," Abbott continued. "There's going to be a lot of legislation coming forward that will be across the board."
When asked specifically if he would sign legislation allowing for abortion exceptions in the cases of rape and incest, the governor did not answer directly.
According to Newsweek, Abrahams mentioned a poll of 1,020 adults conducted Sept. 24-27 that found 77% of Texans support allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest.
"Why is the law as restrictive as it is?" Abrahams asked Abbott, who is running for reelection in November. "Why not include rape and incest?"
"Because it's the law that was passed by the Legislature," the governor said, according to Newsweek.
Abbott insisted that Beto O'Rourke's position on abortion is the more extreme of the two, claiming that his Democrat rival for the Texas governorship supports the controversial procedure "one second" before a full term baby is born.
"That's the extreme position on abortion in Texas," Abbott said, according to Newsweek.
According to ABC13, O'Rourke has repeatedly denied the claim, including at the only scheduled debate between the two candidates in September.
Abbott also spoke about illegal immigration during the Sunday sit-down.
Abrahams asked the governor specifically about spending more than $14 million to bus migrants from Texas border communities to Democrat-run "sanctuary" cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
"It's because of the facts and what the facts are," Abbott said, according to ABC13. "This all began in April when small towns on the Texas border were overwhelmed by President Joe Biden's border policies that dumped thousands of illegal immigrants into these towns that were completely incapable of dealing with it and needed relief."
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