Anita Perry: By Law, Abortion "Could Be a Woman's Right"

Texas first lady Anita Perry said Saturday that while there’s no daylight between her and her husband on abortion, she doesn’t judge women who undergo the procedure under state law.

“That could be a woman’s right, just like it’s a man’s right if he wants to have some kind of procedure,” she said.

And she added that while she doesn’t agree with it, “the older I get, there are two sides of every nickel.”

“God made us our own individuals, and I can believe, you can believe, what you want to believe,” she said.

In an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival, Perry also suggested that her husband’s comments on state Sen. Wendy Davis — that the single mom who filibustered the state’s strict abortion legislation could learn from her own experience — were misconstrued.

“He thinks if she had decided to terminate her pregnancies — and maybe he could’ve chosen a word that would’ve been a little more sensitive to what she was thinking — it would’ve come out differently,” she said.

Perry said it’s been easy for the public to misunderstand her husband, from suggestions after the “oops” presidential debate that he was lacking in smarts to the perception that he has a surplus of “swagger.” “He walks just like his mother,” the first lady joked.

She did little to dissuade the audience of rumors that the governor is seriously pursuing a second presidential bid, saying the advice they’ve received is to plan a presidential race two years out, and plan to run twice. She said the mistake they made last time around was jumping into a presidential race “six weeks after you have back surgery.”

“Getting out across the country … is one of the greatest things you can do in life,” she said.