MSNBC host Craig Melvin brought on Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson on Tuesday to address a "Missouri's restrictive abortion law." He goaded her to "help folks understand" why anyone would oppose abortion. She made her usual argument that the "cruelty" by pro-lifers is "the point." The people who prevent the killing of babies are the "cruel" ones.
Melvin said the Missouri law, passed in 2019, "bans abortions at or around the eighth week of pregnancy, it has no exception for rape, no exception for incest. It also, it also bans abortions based on Down Syndrome diagnosis." In other words, no killing the babies with disabilities.
Johnson declared: "This is about the number of restrictions and bans, over 600 just this year alone, that have been introduced, 90 that have been enacted, that are focusing on trying to ensure that we no longer have the fundamental right to have an abortion."
Melvin asked Johnson to "Help me, help folks understand, if you can, I’m not sure you can, this idea that these laws wouldn't even allow exceptions for rape, incest, or a health diagnosis. What's the thinking there?" Translation: these pro-lifers are just such weirdos."
A pro-life guest would say the only question that matters is whether the unborn baby has life. Nothing else matters, especially not whether or not it has a "health diagnosis," which is just a euphemistic way of justifying eugenics.
Instead, Melvin invited the boss of the nation's leading abortion provider to claim "The thinking is about the cruelty, right? I think that is the point."
People just Johnson don't have to rebut pro-life arguments, so they can just resort to this straw man about cruelty for its own sake which has quickly become a Planned Parenthood talking point that has gone unquestioned by the media.
This pro-abortion segment was sponsored by Progressive.
Here is a transcript for the September 21 show:
MSNBC
Craig Melvin Reports
11:45 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: Right now, a federal appeals court is holding a hearing on Missouri's restrictive abortion law. The court’s going to decide whether the state can actually implement the law. The law passed back in 2019 bans abortions at or around the eighth week of pregnancy, it has no exception for rape, no exception for incest. It also, it also bans abortions based on Down Syndrome diagnosis. Today's hearing in Missouri just one of the flash points in the abortion rights fight playing out across the country right now. Just Monday, the Supreme Court announced in December it is going to take up the most direct challenge to Roe v. Wade yet. Mississippi's abortion law. We're also seeing new fallout from Texas's abortion law. We're joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, Alexis is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. So, Alexis, let's start with what's happening right now in Missouri. Planned Parenthood, one of the organizations challenging this law there in Missouri. How significant is this hearing? And if it's upheld, what next?
ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON: Well, Craig, thanks for having me. I mean, this is absolutely significant in Missouri. You know, today already 90% of abortion patients in Missouri travel to Illinois. They have to get in their cars and cross state lines already because of the number of restrictions in Missouri. If they let this law stand after they've already struck it down once, it's going to be a ban that affects nearly 1 million people in the state of Missouri and so, you know, to your point, this is not just about Missouri or Mississippi or Texas. This is about the number of restrictions and bans, over 600 just this year alone, that have been introduced, 90 that have been enacted, that are focusing on trying to ensure that we no longer have the fundamental right to have an abortion.
MELVIN: Help me, help folks understand, if you can, I’m not sure you can, this idea that these laws wouldn't even allow exceptions for rape, incest, or a health diagnosis. What's the thinking there?
JOHNSON: The thinking is about the cruelty, right? I think that is the point. The thinking is about trying to ensure that, you know, it's always been about the fundamental right to have an abortion. When we look at the Supreme Court case that will be heard on December 1, it is very clear. They already know Roe is hanging on by a thread. They already recognize that the fact that, you know, we may have the right, but access is incredibly hard to achieve in many of these states as we see with these bans and what we have is a Court willing to consider overturning 50 years of precedent and that should alarm all of us. It should alarm us to understand that nearly 25 million women will be impacted in roughly 26 states that will have these bans on the books. So, it's not about whether or not it's a reason ban or not. It's about whether or not we have access to this right.
