Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made a wildly false claim about Democrats attempting to murder babies via the party’s abortion policies on Wednesday.
Abbott told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he’s seen reports that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who Vice President Kamala Harris chose as her running mate this week, was against a state law that would’ve “required medical care for any baby who actually survives an abortion.”
“That’s something that needs to be looked into if he’s against that, because that would be another horrific policy by the Democrats and their zeal to try to kill young babies,” Abbott claimed.
Former President Donald Trump has pushed similar abortion talk over the years including in April when he took to Truth Social and claimed that Democrats support the “execution” of babies.
Reproductive health experts have criticized Trump over the claim, which PolitiFact declared to be false. Experts told the Associated Press back in April that it isn’t physically possible to perform an abortion if the person has gone into labor later in a pregnancy.
Tapper, elsewhere in his interview with Abbott, pressed the governor about a recent study that found infant deaths in Texas surged 12.9% between 2021 and 2022 while infant mortality rates rose 8.3% in the state in that time period.
The study found that the rest of the U.S. saw a 1.8% increase in infant deaths and a 2.2% increase in infant mortality rates between those years.
Abbott, when asked if he was concerned about his state’s abortion ban and “these disastrous increases,” said he was unfamiliar with the study before claiming that Harris supports abortion to the “very last second before a fully developed child” is born.
“That’s late-term abortion. That baby can definitely feel the pain. That definitely, the baby who, if it survives one more minute —,” Abbott said.
“Where are there abortions being carried out —,” Tapper interjected.
“Will be born, but instead will lose its life,” Abbott continued.
“Where? Where are these abortions being carried out up until the moment of birth?” Tapper asked.
“I keep hearing Republican politicians talking about that. And, I mean, that’s infanticide. I don’t know where this is going on.”