Tuesday afternoon on CNN, Inside Politics and CNN Right Now compared conservatives and Republicans nationwide seeking to advance pro-life legislation to the scandal-ridden Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) after he made his comments endorsing infanticide. Their rationale? Well, in both cases, those two sides found themselves “on the defensive.” Yes, really.
On Inside Politics, host John King and Supreme Court reporter Adriene de Vogue noted that a pro-life law in Mississippi appears to be in serious jeopardy thanks to a federal judge in that state expressing skepticism during a hearing. After that, King argued that while cases work their way through the courts, “the Democrats seem to believe, it’s a hard word because of the issue, but it’s good ground for them.”
The Washington Post’s Paul Kane provided the line about Republicans being just like Northam:
Four months ago, Democrats were on the defensive with Virginia and some of the comments of the governor down there and talking about when life begins and potentially aborting born babies. Now, it’s on completely the opposite foot. Republicans are completely on the defensive.
So on one side, you have a group of people wanting to protect the unborn and being against infanticide. And on the other, you have a governor with a racist yearbook and a ghoulish view of babies born alive. It’s safe to say that they’re totally different.
White House reporter Kaitlan Collins relayed that, in the case of Alabama, that’s her home state and “this is something that is popular in parts of the state” while “in some parts they do believe it should include the exceptions for it, but you can see how this is playing out and how this is becoming a national issue and you’ve seen a lot of national Republicans break with this.”
Sorry, but the vote in the Alabama House was 74-3 and it passed 25-6 in the state Senate, so not exactly a split vote.
Moving to the next hour, fill-in host Phil Mattingly brought on 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, far-left abortion supporter, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to talk about the move in not just Alabama but across the country.
Mattingly asked a tough question later, but not before this softball:
I guess one of the things I’ve been struck by over the last couple of weeks, particularly in the wake of some of these state-based laws, is it feels like some of the laws have shifted after you had kind of the Virginia law and the dispute over that. The Democrats feel like they are now on offense on this issue. Is that an accurate characterization of your view on things?
After some boilerplate answers from Gillibrand that made it sound as if she were reading from Planned Parenthood talking points, Mattingly asked about her desire to have an abortion litmus test for judges and what was “the most important thing right now policy-wise as you move forward on the campaign trail and in the Senate.”
Gillibrand cited ghoulish proposals to further expand abortion, but it was after this that Mattingly brought the heat with the reality of how polling has shown widespread opposition to late-term abortions. Not surprisingly, she dodged the question:
MATTINGLY: Senator, do you have any concern when you look at the numbers where you’re talking about a Roe v. Wade, the majority of Americans are with you. When you’re talking about access to abortion particularly in the early stages, the numbers are with you, but that later on in — in the — in the birth proc — or, sorry, in the pregnancy process, Americans are at least polling-wise get a little uneasy about the fact that Democrats might be willing to leave it entirely up to people, put no restrictions on whatsoever. Do you — do you have any concern about that at all?
GILLIBRAND: I think the American people agree, 70 percent agree that Roe v. Wade is settled law and that the fundamental decision of when a woman needs to make a decision about when she’s having children, how many children she’s having, under what circumstances she is having them, that those are fundamentally her decisions. President Trump tries to create red herring arguments that don’t exist, and he’s lying to the American people. This is about basic human and civil rights that women, as settled law, have a constitutional right to decide.
Of course, Mattingly didn’t follow up.
LifeNews Note: Curtis Houck writes for Newsbusters, where this column originally appeared.
