The governor also claimed rape victims can still get abortions because the ban takes effect around six weeks, but that\u2019s before most people know they\u2019re pregnant.<\/b>
\nTexas Gov. Greg Abbott defended the state\u2019s controversial near-total ban on abortion and its lack of exceptions for victims of rape and incest Tuesday, misleadingly stating that rape victims can still get abortions under the law and claiming that the government will \u201celiminate all rapists\u201d in the state. 310 out of 1,000. That\u2019s the approximate number of sexual assaults that are reported to police, according to statistics from RAINN based on U.S. Department of Justice data. According to the FBI, there were 24,986 rape-related arrests in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, and the Washington Post calculated in 2018 that less than 1% of all rapes and attempted rapes result in felony convictions. Abbott\u2019s comments Tuesday have sparked widespread opposition from abortion rights advocates. \u201cGreg Abbott is lying\u201d about rape victims still being able to get an abortion, former San Antonio mayor and presidential candidate Julian Castro tweeted Tuesday, while progressive group Ultraviolet said of Abbott\u2019s comments, \u201cMaybe if you don’t understand basic biology you shouldn’t legislate bodily autonomy away.\u201d SB 8, enacted last week, is likely to block approximately 85% of abortions in Texas, abortion providers estimate, making it the most extreme anti-abortion law to be imposed in the U.S. since the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade. In addition to the law\u2019s failure to carve out exceptions for rape and incest, SB 8 has also drawn significant controversy for its stipulation that it can only be enforced by private citizens, who are empowered to sue anyone who \u201caids and abets\u201d an abortion and receive at least $10,000 if they\u2019re successful, which many have decried as putting a \u201cbounty\u201d on those seeking abortions. In addition to Democrats and companies like Uber, Lyft and Bumble that have already mobilized against the law, it has sparked pushback from even some anti-abortion Republicans. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday they believe the law\u2019s lawsuit enforcement mechanism goes too far, and Kinzinger also took issue with the law not having rape and incest exceptions. Texas\u2019 governor got a basic fact about pregnancy wrong (The 19th) Texas Abortion Ban Goes Too Far For Even Some Republicans: \u2018A Little Bit Extreme\u2019 (Forbes) Supreme Court Refuses To Strike Down Texas Abortion Ban (Forbes) Reasons a woman may not know she\u2019s pregnant at six weeks (CNN)<\/p>\n