Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) criticized those who supported state Sen. Wendy Davis’ fight against a bill that threatened to close nearly all of the abortion clinics in the state, saying they used "Occupy Wall Street tactics" in their protests.
After Davis' 11-hour filibuster was cut off in the late hours of June 26, more than 400 protesters staged what they called "a people's filibuster," shouting and causing a disruption until after the midnight deadline to vote on the abortion bill had passed.
“This is bringing Occupy Wall Street tactics inside of the chamber of the Texas Senate in this case, and that’s probably their goal,” Perry said Monday on Bill Bennett's radio show, according to Politico. “But is our goal as people who are duly elected, as people who respect democracy and the rule of law, to not allow that type of action.”
Perry isn't the only one to criticize the Texas protesters. Republican Bill Zedler, who serves in the Texas state senate, said there were "terrorist [sic]" in the capitol building during Davis' filibuster.
Perry also defended the abortion legislation on Monday, using the trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell as an example of the "horrors" of abortion.
“We saw this Gosnell clinic in Philadelphia and the horrors that went on there, sticking the scissors in the backs, baby’s backs to end their lives. We saw that same type of action in a clinic in Houston Texas,” Perry said.
“That’s what this is really about, Bill, and I think you’re seeing the awakening of a sleeping giant in this country to protect babies and to make sure that those who do make that decision to have an abortion are going to be in clinics that are going to be safe and sanitary,” Perry continued.
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