In the closing moments of Monday's MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle, the show's namesake brought on Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen to discuss pending legislation in Alabama and to attack pro-life politicians as being out of touch.
Ruhle initially tried to play devil's advocate with Wen, asking her, "What about those who say, maybe Roe v. Wade should be re-examined and overturned and let the issue be left up to states to decide. What do you say to those who make that argument?"
Instead of questioning whether Wen was out of touch, Ruhle thanked her and repeated Planned Parenthood's talking points:
Access to health care. I think if you ask many, many women out there, me included, who is their primary care giver? We'd say our OBGYN. At six weeks, I had three kids, I didn't know I was pregnant at six weeks. We’re going to keep our eye on this bill. This is a massively important health issues. Dr. Leana Wen Thank you for joining me today. I really appreciate it.
Wen launched into a long non-answer that avoided questions of federalism, but justified her support for abortion, in part, by saying in, "73% of Americans support Roe v. Wade as the law of the land."
Abortion supporters like to cite polling data to justify their policies, but the polling data is not as friendly to Wen, as she thinks. Only 62 percent of Americans even know that Roe deals with abortion and only 44 percent of those under 30. Alexandra DeSanctis writes at National Review, "If so many Americans are unaware that Roe dealt with abortion, imagine how many more must not know that, for example, a decision to overturn the precedent wouldn’t automatically make abortion illegal at the federal level."
DeSanctis also reports that over 75 percent of Americans favor restrictions on abortion past the first trimester and that only 13 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in the third trimester.
However, Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party are moving in the opposite direction. Wen's references to "safe, legal abortion" is notable to anyone who remembers that "rare" is no longer included in the list of adjectives. Wen concluded her remarks by using the typical "health care" euphemism, "Americans are saying now more than ever we want more health care, not less. Politicians should be listening to us and improving the lives and wellbeing of women, children and families. That's what Planned Parenthood stand for."
Here is a transcript for the May 13 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
9:54 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: What about those who say, maybe Roe v. Wade should be re-examined and overturned and let the issue be left up to states to decide. What do you say to those who make that argument?
LEANA WEN: I have a mentor who taught me working at the emergency room and he said that back in the 1960s, thousands of women died every year. We know this. That thousands of women died every year pre-Roe because they did not have access to safe, legal abortion. There was an entire area of the hospital where my mentor worked that was called a sexist word, where women went because they didn't have a safe place to go for abortion care.
Legalizing abortions did not create the need for it. Actually, we're at an all-time low for unintended pregnancies, for abortions since Roe v. Wade because of sex education and because of affordable, accessible birth control. What are politicians and elected leaders should be doing is listen to the will of the people. 73% of Americans support Roe v. Wade as the law of the land and Americans are saying now more than ever we want more health care, not less. Politicians should be listening to us and improving the lives and wellbeing of women, children and families. That's what Planned Parenthood stand for.
RUHLE: Access to health care. I think if you ask many, many women out there, me included, who’s is their primary care giver? We'd say our OBGYN. At six weeks, I had three kids, I didn't know I was pregnant at six weeks. We’re going to keep our eye on this bill. This is a massively important health issues. Dr. Leana Wen Thank you for joining me today. I really appreciate it.
WEN: Thank you.
