While the Republican Party of Texas has expressed optimism over a recent leak of a Supreme Court opinion that would potentially overturn two landmark abortion cases, Texas Democrats are re-upping their support for abortion without restraints.
At issue before the court is a case brought by a Mississippi law prohibiting abortion. On Monday evening, Politico released a leaked draft of an opinion from the court that would effectively return the power to regulate abortion to the states, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
In an official statement released shortly after the leak, the Texas Democrat Party released a statement warning that Texans’ “right to an abortion” is under attack.
“No child or adult should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. Period. Radical conservatives are running on a platform of authoritarianism, forced birth, and human suffering. They are anti-freedom and anti-Texan,” said Texas Democrat Party Co-Executive Director Hannah Roe Beck.
At a press conference on Thursday, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke echoed the sentiment, opposing any restrictions on abortion at all.
“[W]hat most of us in Texas agree on is that this a decision for a woman to make,” said O’Rourke.
O’Rourke was joined by former state senator and pro-abortion activist Wendy Davis, who enjoyed a brief spotlight by national Democrats in 2013 after she held a filibuster in an attempt to stop a pro-life law from passing the Legislature. When she attempted to parlay that fame into a run for governor in 2014, Davis lost by more than 20 points to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
O’Rourke and Davis also expressed opposition to other pro-life bills passed in Texas, including the “trigger bill” signed last year. It states that if the Supreme Court issues a judgment in a decision overturning, either fully or in part, the decisions handed down in Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the practice of abortion would be outlawed to the extent allowable under the new precedent.
The issue has even struck unity in the party’s runoff for lieutenant governor. Carrollton State Rep. Michelle Beckley’s vocal support for abortion comes as little surprise (after Democrat lawmakers fled to Washington, D.C., last year to break quorum, Beckley donated her $10,000 in per diem to Planned Parenthood).
What is more noteworthy is statements from her opponent, Mike Collier. Often depicted as a “moderate” candidate, Collier expressed his full-throated support for abortion, saying that when he is elected, he will be the “first pro-choice Lt. Governor in Texas history.”
Collier also swiped at the current Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s for stating that abortion would be outlawed in Texas, saying, “Screw you and the horse you rode in on.”
.@DanPatrick, screw you and the horse you rode in on. https://t.co/ntpLTHel8q
— Mike Collier (@CollierForTexas) May 3, 2022
The ultimate decision from the Supreme Court is expected to come in June or July.
