In a nearly four-minute news monologue, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski called out Republicans over the party’s anti-abortion laws and bans.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, states across the country have implemented anti-abortion legislations, near-total abortion bans or have made it completely illegal to get an abortion altogether. Most recently, Idaho’s so-called “abortion trafficking” law is now the first law to restrict travel for abortion.
The matter was a talking point on Tuesday on MSNBC’s weekly show talk show “Morning Joe,” with anchor Brzezinski laying into Republicans over their continuous attack on women’s access to an abortion.
“So, I have a note to Republicans, maybe especially Republican men,” Brzezinski began. “Abortion isn’t just terminating a normal pregnancy. It isn’t just someone who had sex without protection and wants to casually get rid of the problem, as much as Republicans would like you to think that. As you just saw that’s not what abortion is all about — not even close. I can’t believe that we still have to spell it out graphically. But it seems that Republicans want to hide behind the old, overused stigma about a decision to terminate a pregnancy.”
Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, are just three of the 11 states that have fully banned abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.
“There are women who have been raped, there are girls who have been raped, who will be forced to carry babies to term,” Brzezinski went on. “There are women who can die within days or hours later due to pregnancy complications if they cannot terminate. They might have been hemorrhaging, as the placenta starts to separate from the uterus. Yes, we’re going to talk about it graphically.”
Brzezinski then directed questions at republicans who may be watching, asking them if forcing a woman to keep a detrimental pregnancy is worth risking the woman’s life.
“What about preeclampsia, what about ectopic pregnancy that ruptures? A termination in these cases saves the woman’s life. Are you saying she should die?” Brzezinski questioned. “What if this was your wife or your daughter? These tragic scenarios can happen to all women. A termination of a fetus that won’t survive saves the woman’s life and saves her from months of having to carry the baby to term. And the mental complications, and the trauma of watching their baby die.”
She ended her address comparing Republicans’ response to the country’s mass shootings to their legislative decisions related to abortion, and mentioned that people in their personal lives could also be impacted.
“Just like we see the response to one mass shooting after another,” Brzezinski said. “Republicans are playing a game that they will ultimately lose. In the long run, they will lose elections. In the short run, there will be a moment, possibly when a woman they love needs healthcare, and she won’t be able to get it because of their extreme, contrived condescending short-sided version of what it means to have an abortion. I hate that they will have to learn the hard way about the damage they causing women across the country and their families. It seems like we shouldn’t have to spell it out in 2023, but here we are.”
