Sunday’s New York Times ran an interesting story about Wendy Davis, the Democratic State Senator from Texas who is running for Governor in November. Yeah, I laughed also when I read about a Democratic trying to get that seat.

Many of you might recall that Ms. Davis gained national attention last summer when for more than eleven hours she conducted a filibuster against proposed legislation that would have resulted in the closure of most of Texas’s abortion clinics. Ultimately, she did not succeed and the legislation became law. It is now being reviewed by the courts but some damage has already been done because several clinics have already closed.

Ms. Davis made headlines last summer because she was/is one of the few politicians in the country who had the guts to stand up and take a vigorous stand on the most controversial issue of our time. And she did it in a very conservative and hostile setting. It goes without saying that her filibuster ticked off a lot of her colleagues but what started out as a quiet parliamentary maneuver suddenly blossomed into a national cause célèbre as the social media spread the story. The women’s groups (obviously) hailed her as a champion, which I suppose got to her ego a little and thus she decided to take on the big boys in the Governor’s race.

Now, Ms. Davis has written the obligatory book about her life and the Times reported that in the book she admits to having had two abortions. The first one was after experiencing an ectopic pregnancy and the second was for “medical reasons.”

I’ve been involved in politics for a long time and I’m trying to think through the benefits, if any, of “coming out” about these abortions. Granted, during her filibuster she admitted the same at some point but that information seemed to get drowned out by the image of this woman fighting the powers that be in the legislature. But now it’s a headline in the New York Times: “Texas Candidate Reveals Personal Tale of Two Abortions.”

For the pro-choicers, they’re already thrilled that she is running for higher office and the fact that she actually had two abortions cannot make them any more excited or generous towards her. They’re in it for all it’s worth right now, their energy level is as high as it can go. And, of course, no one is “for” abortion, right?

On the other side, I haven’t seen much response from the anti-abortion side. No one that I can see has actually come out and condemned the abortions. Maybe that’s because they were both for “medical” reasons and even some anti-abortion people are a little more tolerant when it comes to those abortions. Indeed, her opponent, Greg Abbott, had a pretty good statement: “The unspeakable pain of losing a child is beyond tragic for any parent. As a father, I grieve for the Davis family and for the loss of life.” I think he is playing this very well.

Abortions for medical reasons, according to national polls, are more acceptable than the “convenience” abortions, as the anti-abortion crowd calls them. And Mr. Abbott’s careful response shows he is very savvy politically. And the irony would be if Ms. Davis’ revelation actually helped her opponent who could have blasted her but instead chose the compassionate response. This should be an interesting last two months of this campaign!