Beto O’Rourke Refuses to Support any Limits on Abortion, Even Partial-Birth: ‘I Trust Women’

Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Texas, refuses to express support for limits on abortion — even partial-birth.

“As governor of Texas, would you allow for any restriction on abortion including an up to partial-birth abortion?” a reporter asked O’Rourke in a video highlighted by RNC Research.

However, O’Rourke failed to say that he would support limits on abortion — even partial-birth — during the press conference.

“I trust women and their doctors to make their decisions about their body, about their health care, and about the future,” the Democrat said.

“I think that is the best, smartest, most constitutional, and most American Texan approach to decision and that’s the way to approach it,” he added:

Watch the full press conference below:

O’Rourke has made abortion one of the centerpieces of his gubernatorial campaign, releasing an ad on Thursday which proclaims that “women all across Texas are no longer free” due to the state’s trigger law going into effect following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The ad goes as far as claiming that “women will die” because of the trigger law:

Indeed, the Texas trigger law went into effect this week, with strict restrictions on abortion. Abortion is prohibited unless a woman faces “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy,” per the Texas Tribune:

Performing an abortion is now a felony punishable by up to life in prison in Texas after the state’s trigger law, which has only narrow exceptions to save the life of a pregnant patient, went into effect Thursday.

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Violations of the law are punishable by up to life in prison. The statute also says that the attorney general “shall” seek a civil penalty of not less than $100,000, plus attorney’s fees.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) remains staunchly pro-life, famously signing the controversial “heartbeat” bill into law in the Lone Star State in May 2021. 

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, Abbott celebrated the decision, highlighting Texas’s “significant action to protect the sanctity of life.”

“Texas will always fight for the innocent unborn, and I will continue working with the Texas legislature and all Texans to save every child from the ravages of abortion and help our expectant mothers in need,” he added.

Friday’s RealClearPolitics average of polls showed Abbott leading O’Rourke by 6.8 percent.