13TH ONLY: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to Eyewitness News about abortion and immigration with political reporter Tom Abrahams

HOUSTON, TX (KTRK) — In an interview you’ll only see on ABC13, Gov. Greg Abbott spoke to ABC13 political reporter Tom Abrahams about critical issues like abortion and immigration.

Abbott spoke in Houston on Sunday at Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s annual youth summit; Afterward, Abott spoke to Eyewitness News on a variety of topics. Eyewitness News specifically asked him if he would spend more than $14 million bringing migrants from Texas to cities like New York, Chicago and Washington DC.

“It’s up to the facts and what the facts are. It all started in April when small towns on the Texas border were overwhelmed by President Joe Biden’s border policies that threw thousands of illegal immigrants into those towns who were utterly unable to handle and needed relief.”

Abbott said in response to those who have criticized breasting migrants as a political stunt.

Abbott has also spent money building a wall and deployed more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops to the border in what is known as Operation Lone Star to combat what he repeatedly calls an open border. And that’s a consistently hot topic among Texas voters.

RELATED: There are more encounters with migrants at the border today than there were when Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star began

Another issue that might motivate voters to vote? Abortion and women’s reproductive health.

Except for the mother’s health, Texas abortion law makes no exceptions. There is also no exception for rape or incest.

The governor indicated that he expects legislation that would clarify the language in current law, but would not specify which language he would support.

ABC13 asked the governor if there was a law allowing exceptions to abortions in cases of rape and incest, would he sign it? The governor did not answer directly.

RELATED: Texas trigger law now bans nearly all abortions

He spoke about the possibility of legislation ranging from no restrictions on abortion even on childbirth to ones that clarify medical language about what defines a pregnancy that could harm an expectant mother.

“We need to sort both of them out and make sure the medical profession is doing everything in their power to protect the mother’s life,” Gov. Abbott said.

“We must make it clear that the mother’s life is just as important as the child’s life and that doctors must take steps to protect the mother’s life.

Gov. Abbott insists Beto O’Rourke’s position on abortion is more extreme in that he supports the process even while in office.

O’Rourke has repeatedly denounced the claim as false, most recently at the only scheduled debate between the two candidates in September.

For updates on this story, follow Tom Abrahams on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

WATCH THE RAW INTERVIEW WITH GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT HERE: