'Never in the history of the world has anyone been able to eliminate rape': Psaki tears into Texas Gov. Abbott's abortion ban defense and says it's 'even more imperative' to protect women's rights
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mocked Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday over his defense of his state's restrictive new abortion law and said now it's 'even more imperative' to protect women's rights across the country.
At a bill signing for the state's new election security legislation, a reporter asked Abbott why the state would 'force' victims of heinous sex crimes like rape and incest to give birth.
'It doesn't require that at all, because obviously it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion,' Abbott replied.
'That said, however, let's make something very clear - rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.'
Psaki was asked about Abbott's comments at Wednesday's White House briefing.
'If Governor Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the United States, then there would be bipartisan support for that,' Psaki said dryly.
'But given there has never in history of the country, in the world, been any leader who's ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets, it's even more imperative, it's one of the many reasons I should say, not the only reason, why women in Texas have access to health care.'
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said any plan Abbott has to eliminate all rape would garner 'bipartisan support'
Texas Gov Greg Abbott shows off Senate Bill 1, also known as the election integrity bill, after he signed it into law in Tyler, Texas on Tuesday, when he was asked about the abortion law
She added that the White House's objective in helping expand abortion access and finding ways around the Texas law has not changed.
Asked what she would say to women who are currently in need of an abortion in Texas - who have a finite amount of time to take action - Psaki said she would tell them the law is a 'violation of your rights.'
'And we are going to do everything we can to provide assistance as quickly as we can,' she said without elaborating on whether the White House had an immediate plan for those women.
Psaki previously defended the Biden administration's stance on the Texas law when she snapped at a male TV reporter last week after he questioned how President Biden squares his abortion views with his faith, telling him: 'I know you've never been pregnant.'
'Why does the President support abortion when his own catholic faith teaches it is morally wrong?' Owen Jensen, reporter for Catholic television network EWTN, asked the press secretary on Thursday afternoon.
'He believes it's a woman's right, it's a woman's body and it's her choice. It's up to a woman to make those decisions and a woman's decision to make with her doctor.'
'I know you have never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing the president believes that right should be respected.'
Vice President Kamala Harris also lashed out at Abbott's comments on Wednesday afternoon while campaigning for California Governor Gavin Newsom.
She decried Abbott's defense as 'empty words' that were 'fueled with not only arrogance but bravado.'
Harris pivoted her criticism to an endorsement of Newsom.
'We want in our leaders someone like Gavin Newsom, who always speaks the truth,' she said. 'Let us send the message to the world, that these are the things we stand for these are the things we fight for and we will not give up, because we know that so much is at stake.'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also slammed the Texas governor over the state's strict new abortion law, but drew mockery of her own for using the phrase 'menstruating persons.'
The progressive New York Democrat spoke out in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, slamming Abbott as ignorant of reproductive science but appearing to trip over her own phrasing.
'I don't know if he is familiar with a menstruating person's body. In fact, I do know that he's not familiar with a woman -- with a female or menstruating person's body,' said Ocasio-Cortez.
The term 'menstruating person' is intended to be inclusive of transgender and non-binary people who still have periods.
But critics - including Harry Potter author JK Rowling - say using the phrase it erases the experience of women.
Abbott, who has been married to his wife Cecilia for 40 years and has an adopted daughter, signed the new law which exposes abortion providers to financial penalties if they perform abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) has slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a CNN interview on Tuesday, saying he is not 'familiar with a menstruating person's body'
Abbott signed the new law which exposes abortion providers to financial penalties if they perform abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
Abbott has been married to his wife Cecilia for 40 years and has an adopted daughter
Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that the six week timeline would only give most women two weeks after their first missed period to confirm the pregnancy and seek an abortion.
'I'm sorry we have to break down Biology 101 on national television, but in case no one has informed him before in our life -- in his life, six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period,' the congresswoman said.
'Two weeks late on your period for any person, any person with a menstrual cycle can happen if you're stressed, if your diet changes or for really no reason at all. So you don't have six weeks,' she added.
'What this is about is controlling women's bodies and controlling people who are not gender men,' Ocasio-Cortez said.
'Someone like me who is a woman, or any menstruating person in this country, cannot make decisions over their own body and Governor Abbott and [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch Mcconnell want to have more control over a woman's body than that woman or that person has over themselves,' she added.
Ocasio-Cortez's use of the phrase 'menstruating person', which is intended to include people who do not identify as women but still have periods, drew mockery from her critics.
'HAHAHAHA. AOC just tripped over the lingo for a “menstruating woman” with on CNN. Jumped from woman to female to person,' tweeted conservative radio host Erick Erickson.
'AOC refers to WOMEN as "menstruating people" in this clip over and over. And in the next breath she apologizes for having to "break down Biology 101 on national television" for Gov. Greg Abbott,' another person tweeted.
Another critic remarked: '"or any menstruating person in this country..." AOC, because, as we know, men can menstruate...'
The new law provides medical exemptions to save the life of the mother, but does not provide exemptions for rape or incest, a stance Abbott defended when a reporter asked why the state would 'force' victims of heinous sex crimes like rape and incest to give birth.
'It doesn't require that at all, because obviously it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion, so for one it doesn't provide that,' Abbott replied.
'That said, however, let's make something very clear - rape is a crime , and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.'
In her interview, Ocasio-Cortez slammed Abbott's vow to 'eliminate all rapists,' saying 'the majority of people who are raped and who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by someone that they know.'
The congresswoman said that many rape victims 'don't want to report a family friend to a police precinct let alone in the immediate aftermath of the trauma of a sexual assault.'
Ocasio-Cortez said that the new Texas law was the product of 'rape culture and misogynistic culture.'
The law, known as the 'Texas Heartbeat Act', bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.
Protesters gather outside where Texas Gov Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1, also known as the election integrity bill, into law in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, September 7
Anti-abortion groups are blasting President Joe Biden and his Justice Department after it announced on Monday it would use a 1994 law to try and counter the Heartbeat Act, which would eliminate roughly 85 percent of abortions throughout the state.
'President Biden and his administration needs to quit trying to facilitate the killing of unborn babies. Instead, President Biden, AG Garland, and this administration should be doing everything they can to protect life and not destroy it,' National Right to Life's Director of Communications Laura Echevarria told DailyMail.com Tuesday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said yesterday the DOJ would 'protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services' under a federal law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Garland said in a statement that federal prosecutors are still urgently exploring options to challenge the Texas law.
'The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,' the attorney general pledged. 'We will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.'
Anti-abortion group Live Action President Lila Rose told Fox News, 'The Justice Department should be focused on protecting our basic rights, including our right to life, not on acting as the abortion industry’s personal attorneys before a relevant lawsuit is even in process.'
The federal law, commonly known as the FACE Act, prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services.
The law also prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers.
'The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,' Garland said.
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