Republican Gov. Rick Perry has pointed toward comedian Joan Rivers dying at a surgery clinic while defending a Texas law that would shutter abortion facilities statewide.
Perry said Sunday "it's a curious thought" whether Rivers might be alive had there been tighter regulations at a New York outpatient surgery center where she went into cardiac arrest this month.
The 81-year-old Rivers was undergoing a routine procedure. Health officials in New York are investigating.
Perry last year signed a sweeping anti-abortion law that would close most abortion facilities in Texas. But part of the law is on hold after a federal judge in August blocked requirements that abortion clinics meet hospital-level operating standards.
Perry was speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival during a wide-ranging interview about his 14 years as governor.
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