On Tuesday's The 11th Hour, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle devoted a segment to fretting over a new abortion ban passed by Oklahoma Republicans as she spoke with liberal MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade.
After McQuade declared that Republicans remind her of ISIS, and blamed gerrymandering and "voter suppression" for Republicans being able to ban abortion, Ruhle lauded her guest, claiming that "you make us smarter" by appearing on the show.
Ruhle recalled that Republicans have been pursuing abortion restrictions for decades and asked if they are employing a "successful long-term strategy" on the matter. McQuade trashed pro-life Republicans in her response:
You know, doesn't it feel like we're just living in the past, that we've gone back in time 50 years ago? But it seems that they have become successful. And, you know, I liken it, Stephanie, to the way ISIS views the world as the Islamic State -- "we want to impose our religion on everyone, and unless you follow our religion, you are against the law."
After noting that different religions hold different views of when human life begin, she continued:
And yet, what we're saying here is that the religious view of this certain group is going to be able to impose their will on everyone else. And so, you know, I think there are a number of reasons this flies in the face of our Constitution, and yet this has been the driving force of a segment of the Republican party for 50 years -- of packing the court of the Federalist Society of judges or textualism of originalism -- this has been the culmination of that movement.
In spite of polling that demonstrates that most Americans believe there should be some restrictions on abortion, McQuade soon claimed that most Americans are "progressives" on the issue and suggested conservatives had to cheat to gain power:
Well, it's interesting because there's one thing that we have seen is, through gerrymandering and voter suppression, we have seen the far right take hold of a lot more power than they actually represent in this country. Now, there are certainly states that have majority Republican party and Republican voters, but if you look at the majority of people in the United States -- mostly around urban centers -- the majority of people are actually progressive and favor abortion.
Ruhle then lauded her guest as she wrapped up the segment; "Barb, every time you're here, you make us smarter. Thank you for joining us tonight."
This pro-abortion activism was sponsored in part by LifeLock and Priceline. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
April 12, 2022
11:52 p.m. Eastern
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Republicans have been working toward this for decades, and now we are watching them use more creative ways to basically just get abortion banned altogether. Could this be a successful long-term strategy for them?
BARBARA McQUADE, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: You know, doesn't it feel like we're just living in the past, that we've gone back in time 50 years ago? But it seems that they have become successful. And, you know, I liken it, Stephanie, to the way ISIS views the world as the Islamic State -- "we want to impose our religion on everyone, and unless you follow our religion, you are against the law." You know, when you think about it, in this country, there are Catholics who say that life begins at conception, but there are Jews who say life begins at birth, and there are Muslims who say life begins somewhere in between.
And yet, what we're saying here is that the religious view of this certain group is going to be able to impose their will on everyone else. And so, you know, I think there are a number of reasons this flies in the face of our Constitution, and yet this has been the driving force of a segment of the Republican party for 50 years -- of packing the court of the Federalist Society of judges or textualism of originalism -- this has been the culmination of that movement. .And I think we are seeing why focusing on courts has been such an important part of their politics.
RUHLE: But in theory, Barb, laws get passed because they're supported by the voters who put those lawmakers in their seats. So does that mean, when we see the governor of Oklahoma not hiding this, just proudly saying, "This is what we're going to do," does that mean that this is what the majority of people from the state of Oklahoma want?
McQUADE: Well, it's interesting because there's one thing that we have seen is, through gerrymandering and voter suppression, we have seen the far right take hold of a lot more power than they actually represent in this country. Now, there are certainly states that have majority Republican party and Republican voters, but if you look at the majority of people in the United States -- mostly around urban centers -- the majority of people are actually progressive and favor abortion.
RUHLE: Barb, every time you're here, you make us smarter. Thank you for joining us tonight.
