Is it the role of a “correspondent,” as opposed to a pundit, to advocate on a controversial subject? Apparently Andrea Mitchell thinks it’s just fine.
On today’s Morning Joe, Mitchell, NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, twice spoke in defense of Planned Parenthood. Mitchell went so far as to claim that 
Planned Parenthood “really is” a noble organization. Mitchell claimed to distinguish PP’s role in providing abortions from the screening services it offers women, and criticized the decision of the Texas state government to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal screening funds. But funds being fungible, Mitchell was effectively advocating for all of Planned Parenthood, including its role as the nation’s largest abortion provider. View the video.
For that matter, Mitchell misled on the subject at hand. If women are being denied screening services in Texas, it is the fault of the Obama administration, not of the Texas state government. Texas wants to continue providing such services. It is the Obama administration that has cut off federal screening funds to Texasbecause the state has excluded Planned Parenthood from the program. Texas has actually sued the federal government to continue receiving the screening funds.
Watch Mitchell wade into the highly-controversial subject matter. Mitchell made her comments during a discussion on the supposed Republican “war on women.”
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ANDREA MITCHELL: In Texas, the results of this are that women, the least fortunate women, are not getting the basic screening and health care, because the governor and his [inaudible] turned back Planned Parenthood’s screening.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I can tell you, Planned Parenthood, in my neighborhood, is not seen as a noble organization.
MITCHELL: In Texas and Arizona, Joe, it really is. I’m not talking about the abortion services, I’m talking about the basic screening health care: they’re the provider.
LifeNews.com Note: Finkelstein has a B.S. from Cornell University, an Ed.M. and a J.D. magna cum laude from SUNY Buffalo, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law. In 2011, Mark moved to Pecan Plantation, Texas from his long-time home in Ithaca, NY where he hosted “Right Angle,” an award-winning local political talk show. This item opriginally appeared on Newsbusters and is reprinted with permission.
