Texas State Senator Who Became a Star for Pro-Abortion Stance Says She's Not All That Familiar with the Kermit Gosnell Case

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. (Getty Images)

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis made headlines this year after she protested an abortion regulation bill that was written in response to the trial of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist found guilty in May of murdering three children born alive in an abortion clinic.

And the Texas Democrat is apparently unfamiliar with the details of the case that prompted the bill she passionately opposes.

“I don't know what happened in the Gosnell case,” the “pro-choice” icon said Monday when asked by The Weekly Standard to explain the difference between an abortion performed at 20 weeks of pregnancy and the crimes committed by Gosnell.

“But I do know that it happened in an ambulatory surgical center. And in Texas changing our clinics to that standard obviously isn't going to make a difference.”

The new bill, dubbed SB5, imposes stricter sanitary regulations on abortion clinics and bans abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“The state of the law obviously has to assure that doctors are providing safe procedures for women and that proper oversight by the health and human services department is being given,” she added. “It sounds as though there was a huge gap in that oversight, and no one can defend that. But that's not the landscape of what's happening in Texas.”

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Planned Parenthood President Cecil Richards have also avoided explaining the difference between legal abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and Gosnell’s murders.

Sen. Davis was later asked by the same Weekly Standard reporter to explain why numerous polls show that a majority of women support bans on late-term abortions.

“I again think that a lot of people don't really understand the landscape of what's happening in that arena today and what an incredibly small percentage of procedures take place there, but, ah --” she said before quickly turning to another reporter.

Lastly, Sen. Davis was asked what – if any – legal limits on abortion she does support.

"The Supreme Court has made that decision, and it's one of the protected liberties under our Constitution, and I respect the Constitutional protections that are in place today," she responded.

But, as noted by the Weekly Standard, this answer is not exactly accurate:

That was a dodge because the Supreme Court has never established a gestational age-limit on abortion. What the Supreme Court said in Planned Parenthood v. Casey is that states may limit abortions after viability, which the Court said in 1992 occurred at "23 to 24 weeks" into pregnancy. Medical advancements have moved the point of viability up to 22 weeks into pregnancy (20 weeks after conception), the point at which the Texas law and bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives would ban most abortions.

Davis announced recently that she is deciding whether she will run for governor or reelection.

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(H/T: TheBlog). Featured image Getty Images.

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