In a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News editorial board on Thursday, Wendy Davis, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, called on Attorney General Greg Abbott to stop defending Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage.
Davis said in that meeting that as governor she would take steps to remove that section of the Texas Constitution and repeal the law.
Wednesday in San Antonio attorneys for two same-sex couples argued against the merits of the Texas ban, asking a federal judge for an injunction of the state law.
The day after the federal lawsuit was heard in court, Davis told the Express News that she would ask lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment before the people of Texas and that opinions regarding the matter are changing.
"So I think it is time to reopen that conversation and ask Texans where they are on it to see if that’s something we might change legislatively, if it doesn’t happen constitutionally," Davis said to the Express-News editorial board.
At the Express-News appearance, Davis also called on Abbott, her likely opponent for governor in the general election, to take the lead from other state attorneys general when it comes to defending a ban on same-sex marriage.
"There are two-states where that is happening right now -- Virginia is one of them, Nevada the other -- where the AG has said they will not defend the constitutionality of those bans," Davis said to the Express-News editorial board.
Davis also said Abbott currently has the same capacity, if he chooses to do so. Abbott’s campaign said the Texas Constitution is not subject to change on "the latest whims of the day" and they planned to take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
