New Wendy Davis Ad Hints At Greg Abbott Complicity In Child Sex Abuse Cover-Up
Wendy Davis has a new political ad in her run for Texas Governor, and in it, she’s calling out opponent Greg Abbott on a 2005 case. The ad speaks of Abbott receiving information that a state-run school was the site of the sexual abuse of several boys, and that Abbott ignored it. Davis’ ad goes as far as to hint that Abbott may have been knowingly covering up for someone.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Davis’ ad is referencing the case of West Texas State School, in Pyote. It’s also noted that Abbot did help with prosecution of top officials at the school, though Wendy’s claims of delay are not disputed. Another important point is that even after the prosecution efforts, the school Wendy references continued to earn additional complaints and abuse claims until it was closed in 2010.
It’s not Davis’ first ad in this campaign that calls out her opponent on policies and practices. In another, his votes to cut education funds and give standardized tests to some of the youngest schoolchildren are called out. Yet another accuses Abbot of complicity in the mishandling of funds that should have been directed to cancer research.
Wendy Davis is taking a lot of criticism herself these days, but it’s not centered so much on practices and policies. Instead, many are taking aim at Wendy’s new book, which revealed her personal history with abortion. According to NPR, Davis discusses two abortions: one of an ectopic (or outside the womb) pregnancy, and another of a fetus Wendy says suffered a severe brain abnormality that doctors said would cause suffering and likely “incompatibility with life.”
Since the book’s release, Davis has been accused of making up the abortions (Jezebel details the case of a reporter seeking proof that Davis ever really had an abortion at all) or lying about the circumstances.
I CALL BS @WendyDavisTexas where are the medical records you lying vile person confirmed congenital liar! http://t.co/qI7cGeveNh
— Peni Basse (@pmbasse) September 6, 2014
This is nothing new, though. Davis has been called “Abortion Barbie” before now for fighting policies that would limit availability of abortion and other health services to women in her state. That appellation began when Davis carried out an 11-hour filibuster in an attempt to prevent new abortion restrictions.
Criticism or no, perhaps something is working for her, because according to the Houston Chronicle, Wendy Davis has closed the gap until her opponent is leading by 8 percentage points, compared to a 23-point difference in January.
[Photo Source: Wendy Davis Twitter]
