Looking for inventive new ways to freak out over the possibility that Roe v. Wade might be overturned, CBS Mornings journalist Holly Williams on Monday traveled to Ireland to find people to trash the “medieval” United States and compare this country to Egypt and Iraq.
The segment featured not a single pro-life voice and minimized the truth that several countries in Europe can be very restrictive on abortion, more so than many U.S. states. Williams recounted, “Ireland is nearly 80 percent Catholic, and used to have some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world.”
She added, “Abortion is now legal in all circumstances in Ireland until the 12th week of pregnancy, and in limited circumstances until the 24th week.” Left unsaid there? Mississippi, the state that got its abortion case in front of the Supreme Court, bans abortion at 15 weeks. So, Ireland is still more conservative than Mississippi in some ways. It kind of undercuts the whole media meltdown, doesn’t it?
Instead, Williams talked to a radically pro-abortion doctor who berate the United States:
DR. PETER BOYLAN (obstetrician): Living in a country the size of the United States and the size of the individual states where a woman cannot access abortion care will end up with maternal death. There is no question about that. Women will die as a consequence of this.
HOLLY WILLIAMS: He says if Roe v. Wade is overturned, it's the poorest women in America who can't afford to travel outside their state who will suffer the most, while women who get abortions could face prosecution.
BOYLAN: It's medieval. You know, what is supposed to be the greatest democracy in the world. It's a tragedy for the United States.
Williams quickly noted that “There are still many in Ireland who oppose abortion rights. For others, the new laws don't go far enough.” Who are these people who oppose abortion in Ireland? We don’t know because the journalist didn’t interview any of them.
She vaguely noted that abortion is available “with some conditions” in Europe. But here’s what The Washington Examiner on May 4, 2022, wrote.
France begins to outlaw elective abortions at 14 weeks of pregnancy, one week before the Mississippi law that triggered Dobbs cuts off the procedure.
After 14 weeks, any woman seeking an abortion must have two doctors attest that carrying her baby to term would inflict severe physical or mental harm on her.
...
Doctors in Germany were, until this year, prohibited from advertising their abortion services to women thanks to a decades-old provision.
While Germany’s new government has revised that provision, abortion access is still far more limited in Germany than in the U.S.
None of this was mentioned in the CBS story.
The pro-abortion propaganda on CBS was sponsored by Progressive insurance. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
A transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS Mornings
5/23/2022
7:32 AM ETGAYLE KING: The Supreme Court plans to issue more rulings this morning as we wait for a final decision on the justices' possibly overturning Roe v. Wade. In the latest CBS News poll, 50 percent of Americans say they would, in their words, “care a lot” if the ruling that makes abortion legal nationwide is thrown out. If that happens, it would run against decisions by other countries to make abortion more available. Holly Williams recently visited one of them, Ireland, and met a woman who talked about her own difficult experience.
AMY CALLAHAN: The doctor doing the scan got quiet and she turned the screen away and said, is your husband here?
HOLLY WILLIAMS: Amy Callahan is originally from North Carolina but has lived in Dublin with her Irish husband for 17 years. When she got pregnant with their second child in 2017, she was ecstatic until her 12-week scan.
CALLAHAN: The top of the baby's skull hadn't formed properly. So the whole brain was outside of the skull. And she said, it's not a pregnancy. The baby's not going to live.
WILLIAMS: At most, she was told, the baby would survive a few days after birth. She felt an abortion was the kindest choice.
CALLAHAN: I just couldn't imagine how -- how it -- how it would -- how it would work that you would give birth only for -- to watch the baby die and probably struggle to breathe and probably be in pain.
WILLIAMS: But in Ireland, abortion was illegal in almost all cases, forcing Amy to travel to England for the procedure. She told us she was lucky she could afford to do so. Instead of carrying a baby for months that she'd never take home.
CALLAHAN: I think it's inhumane to me, as a mother, it would have been, but also to the baby. It just seems like an incredibly horrific way to pass away.
WILLIAMS: Ireland is nearly 80 percent Catholic, and used to have some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. So strict that in 2012 when Savita Halappanavar began to miscarry her baby at 17 weeks pregnant, she was denied an abortion. As a result, she developed sepsis which killed her. Her death fueled anger and protests eventually leading to a referendum on abortion. With more than two-thirds of voters in support, abortion was finally legalized in Ireland in 2018.
In fact, abortion is now widely available in nearly all of Europe, though with some conditions. If Roe V. Wade is overturned and some U.S. states ban abortion even in cases of rape, they'll be joining a club that includes Iraq, Egypt, and Nicaragua. There are still many in Ireland who oppose abortion rights. For others, the new laws don't go far enough. Abortion is now legal in all circumstances in Ireland until the 12th week of pregnancy, and in limited circumstances until the 24th week.
Dr. Peter Boylan says women should be free to make the best decision for themselves without the law interfering at all. He's an OBGYN who's delivered more than 4,000 babies. What is your advice to Americans about what the reality is of living in a place where a woman can't get an abortion?
DR. PETER BOYLAN (obstetrician): Living in a country the size of the United States and the size of the individual states where a woman cannot access abortion care will end up with maternal death. There is no question about that. Women will die as a consequence of this.
WILLIAMS: He says if Roe v. Wade is overturned, it's the poorest women in America who can't afford to travel outside their state who will suffer the most, while women who get abortions could face prosecution.
BOYLAN: It's medieval. You know, what is supposed to be the greatest democracy in the world. It's a tragedy for the United States.
WILLIAMS: Amy Callahan says nobody should judge women who choose to have an abortion.
CALLAHAN: I think it's a very sad move. There are so many different reasons why somebody might want to end a pregnancy. I think it's going to have a detrimental effect on women and children.
WILLIAMS: For CBS Mornings, Holly Williams, Ireland.
KING: It is such a personal decision.
