S.E. Cupp Battles Joy Behar and Jerry Springer Over Defunding Planned Parenthood

Conservative author S.E. Cupp must have felt like she was getting tag-teamed Wednesday when she opted to go on the "Joy Behar Show" along side Jerry Springer.

The trio debated a number of issues including the Bush tax cuts, but the debate really got heated when the host brought up the Republican desire to defund Planned Parenthood (video follows with transcript and commentary):

JOY BEHAR, HOST: They’re also -- look at the Planned Parenthood thing they practically stopped the budget from going through. We almost had a government shutdown because of abortion.

(CROSS TALK)

S.E. CUPP: The Democrats almost -- almost had a government shutdown because they refused to allow cuts in spending for Planned Parenthood. You can point fingers at either side.

(CROSS TALK)

JERRY SPRINGER: What --

BEHAR: Why should they allow cuts -- why should they allow cuts in Planned Parenthood?

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Yes.

CUPP: Why should I fund Planned Parenthood?

BEHAR: Because Planned Parenthood could save your life. That’s why.

SPRINGER: Yes.

CUPP: I will never ask Planned Parenthood to save my life.

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: You’re lucky.

BEHAR: Some poor --

SPRINGER: You are lucky.

BEHAR: -- some poor women will because they do tests on for cervical cancer.

CUPP: You’re right. They do. But I don’t want to have to find --

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: They may not do the mammogram --

(CROSS TALK)

CUPP: A liberal public policy -- they have been --

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Saving -- having women being able to get medical care is liberal?

CUPP: I don’t want my --

SPRINGER: If that is, sign me up. I’m liberal.

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: Wait a minute. I have to stop you there. The Hyde Amendment prevents any federal funding going to abortions, so why do Republicans keep perpetuating this lie as if it’s a law? It’s not a law, it’s against the law.

CUPP: It -- it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Every time a new spending measure comes up whether it’s a budget or -- or some kind of a new spending feature, we have to re-examine this issue because they will try and get publicly-funded abortions into any nook and cranny that they can. But it’s unfortunate, but --

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: Hello, let us not forget Roe v. Wade, ok.

SPRINGER: Yes.

BEHAR: It is a law in this country. Planned Parenthood does not provide free abortions with public funding. They do it with private funding and people who need abortions because there are many women in this country who need them.

CUPP: Then what does the spending go to? What does federal spending go to?

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: Cervical cancer, heart disease.

(CROSS TALK)

CUPP: Ok, so they --

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: Mammograms that they refer, all that.

(CROSS TALK)

CUPP: They set aside a drawer for just that money just to go to cervical cancer screenings?

BEHAR: I’m assuming they do. I’m assuming they do.

CUPP: Ok, I don’t like their agenda.

(CROSS TALK)

BEHAR: I’m sorry. Jerry --

CUPP: I don’t believe in what they believe in. I don’t want to have to pay for it.

BEHAR: I have one more minute left. But I want to --

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Yes, there are a lot of things -- there are a lot of things -- when you pay taxes you pay taxes for a lot of programs that you personally don’t benefit from that day.

(CROSS TALK)

CUPP: Absolutely.

SPRINGER: Ok, and you want people to stop, they should only pay taxes for things they want. So for example if you pay taxes to a fire department in your local community and there’s no fire at your house, you wants your money back? Oh, that will work.

CUPP: We’re talking about apples and oranges. I would never ask you Joy or you Jerry to put your taxpayer money towards abstinence education if you didn’t want to. Unfortunately our taxpayer system requires that we all put it in one big coffer.

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Yes.

BEHAR: Don’t I pay for -- don’t I pay for wars and armaments? I pay for that.

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Yes, I would rather withhold my --

BEHAR: I’m against that too.

CUPP: So I’m not disagreeing. We do it all the time.

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: So you’re telling the American people that it’s ok not to pay your taxes to support a war that you don’t support? Is that ok?

CUPP: I pay my taxes. We all pay taxes for things we don’t believe in. I wish that weren’t the case.

(CROSS TALK)

SPRINGER: Ok.

BEHAR: Ok. Thank you guys very much. We’ll be back in a minute. Ok.

It really is funny how liberals don't understand the concept of money being fungible.

Taxpayers opposed to federally funded abortions have absolutely no certainty that money supposedly going to Planned Parenthood for procedures other than abortions don't end up directly or indirectly doing exactly what it's not legally allowed to.

Beyond this, many Americans are offended by their tax dollars going to the other services that PP offers including for example birth control. Between Medicaid and the various free clinics all around the country, the poor in this nation have access to all kinds of options without there being a federally-sponsored organization that is also responsible for one abortion every 95 seconds.

On a somewhat related note, Keith Olbermann on Thursday tweeted a rather rude comment about Cupp's appearance on Behar's program that has caused quite a stir in the blogosphere.

As NewsBusters readers have likely noticed, since Olbermann's departure from MSNBC in January, there have been precious few articles about him here. Hasn't it been nice?

With this in mind, all we have to say regarding this issue is we think it's wonderful that as Olbermann is toiling away in obscurity on Twitter with likely far more viewers than he's going to have on Nobel Laureate Al Gore's failed cable network he has taken to wishing conservative columnists had been aborted or at the very least never been born.

What a classy guy - MSNBC must be relieved they tossed him out with the trash months ago.