Rick Perry's Wife: Abortion a 'Woman's Right'

Texas first Lady Anita Perry told an interviewer that she thinks the decision to have an abortion is "a woman’s right."

During an interview Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival, when asked if she thinks her husband, Republican Gov. Rick Perry, and his administration have "got it right" on abortion policy, Anita Perry responded, "Well, that’s really difficult for me, because I see it as a woman’s right. If they want to do that, that is their decision. They have to live with that decision."



After the interviewer pressed her, asking "Mrs. Perry I want to be sure that you didn’t just inadvertently make news. Are you saying that you believe that abortion is a woman’s right—to make that choice?" the first lady said, "It is not mine. It is not something that I would say for them."

She later added, "Well I don’t really think that’s making news. I mean, I think that yeah, that could be a woman’s right. Just like it’s a man’s right if he wants to have some kind of procedure."

Anita Perry’s comments come less than two months after her husband signed sweeping new abortion restrictions that could close down most of the clinics in the state that provide the procedure.

"Today, we celebrate the further cementing of the foundation on which the culture of life in Texas is built upon," the governor told an audience of supporters, adding, "It is our responsibility and duty to give voice to the unborn individuals."

The law restricts abortions to surgical centers and requires doctors who work at abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges. It also bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

But the first lady is not alone in her opinion. A June 2013 poll found that a majority of Texans, 52 percent, across party lines support some form of abortion rights.
While 51 percent of Texans opposed the new abortion restrictions. Even more significant, the poll found, "Nearly three quarters of voters (74 percent) in the state say personal, private medical decisions about whether to have an abortion should be made by a woman, her family, and her doctor, not by politicians; just 19 percent of voters think government has a right and an obligation to pass restrictions on abortion."

After the law takes effect in October, abortion clinics will have a year to either upgrade their facilities or shut down.