Texas Republican wants women to be jailed for having abortion: 'They committed murder'
Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) wants women who have an abortion punished and was found saying the same in a video released by abortion access advocacy group Reproaction. When asked on camera if women should be punished for an abortion he clearly says, "Of course, because they just killed a baby." He was also caught on camera saying, "As far as I’m concerned, they committed murder."
Wright was elected in 2018 and his words fall in line with the rising surge of anti-abortion laws being implemented in numerous states across the country. A bill introduced by Texas state Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R) just six months ago is believed to be one of the most repressive acts to emerge. Though this bill has not been made law and is still pending with the committee, it would have banned abortion and subjected women and their doctors to the death penalty. This bill does not make concessions even in the case of rape, fetal abnormalities, or incest.
The bill HB 896 "would remove the exception for abortion from the definition of homicide in the state's penal code. If passed, all parties involved in an abortion (physicians, nurses, the pregnant patient, etc.) may face murder charges." The text of the bill states that "a living human child, from the moment of fertilization on fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum, is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as are secured or granted by the laws of this state to any other human child.” It is on these grounds that the bill was proposed to become an act.
This, however, is not the first instance when he has aired his anti-abortion sentiments. Back in 2015, as tax assessor-collector for Texas' Tarrant County, Wright told county officials not to make donations to United Way, a fund-raising non-profit organization associated with Planned Parenthood. He said: "This is a stain on what is otherwise a very worthy organization. People with United Way remind me of the enormous good they do in the community. And they do. Supporters of Planned Parenthood will say it too does enormous good in the community as well. I will remind all of them that Hitler made the trains run on time." He added: "The good that’s being done doesn’t compensate for the evil that’s being done by Planned Parenthood."