When MSNBC needed to a guest host for Saturday’s edition of Velshi, it settled on Voto Latino’s Maria Teresa Kumar. When the liberal activist proceeded to interview abortion activist Rebecca Tong the natural conclusion MSNBC reached was that pro-life laws are racist and pro-lifers aren’t really pro-life.
Towards the end of her conversation with Tong, which specifically target Oklahoma, Kumar wondered, “So, one of the questions I want to ask you is that Texas is a majority-minority state. 65% of women in Texas ages 18 to 29 are women of color. In Oklahoma it's 42%. This is a region of the country that has a large, young and, growing non-white population and they're the ones most affected. What can you tell us about the patients who come to your clinics?”
Kumar also tried to tie Tong’s grievances to her own, “So, one of the questions I want to ask you is that Texas is a majority-minority state. 65% of women in Texas ages 18 to 29 are women of color. In Oklahoma it's 42%. This is a region of the country that has a large, young and, growing non-white population and they're the ones most affected. What can you tell us about the patients who come to your clinics?”
Tong was more than willing to affirm that pro-life laws are racist, “It's clear who is able to come in early on in their pregnancy because they have adequate medical care and they can be seen right away and they have the means to get to us right away, or they have the means to fly somewhere. There are then a huge segment of people who are left waiting who are further along in their pregnancy, who have more complex cases, and it's definitely racially segregated and it's very upsetting.”
Kumar concluded the segment by practically taunting Gov. Kevin Stitt, claiming that if he’s really pro-life, he would flip-flip, “Governor Stitt, Rebecca’s waiting for you to go man the phones and talk to the constituents that you are trying to impact when you say you are, quote, you’re pro-life.”
Kumar is referring to a talking point Tong repeated earlier in the interview where she declared that Oklahoma had some of the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. However, the difference between Oklahoma’s maternal mortality rate and the national average is marginal and abortion is supposed to guarantee infant mortality, so the duo has no argument there.
This segment was sponsored by Sling.
Here is a transcript for the April 16 show:
MSNBC
Velshi
8:46 AM ET
MARIA TERESA KUMAR: So, one of the questions I want to ask you is that Texas is a majority-minority state. 65% of women in Texas ages 18 to 29 are women of color. In Oklahoma it's 42%. This is a region of the country that has a large, young and, growing non-white population and they're the ones most affected. What can you tell us about the patients who come to your clinics?
REBECCA TONG: ‘Cause you want to be clear. So women of all colors have abortions at the exact same rate. One in four women of reproductive age of America will have an abortion in their lifetime. What we're seeing, though, is that the people who are able to get to us. We are the closest clinic in driving distance for so many people and we already saw many patients from the northern panhandle of Texas. Now we're starting to see people from—well, we have been seeing people from San Antonio, from Houston, from the border towns. So people are going further and they're waiting longer. We're seeing increasingly complex medical cases because people are being delayed weeks and weeks and the racial impact of these laws is very clear. It's clear who is able to come in early on in their pregnancy because they have adequate medical care and they can be seen right away and they have the means to get to us right away, or they have the means to fly somewhere. There are then a huge segment of people who are left waiting who are further along in their pregnancy, who have more complex cases, and it's definitely racially segregated and it's very upsetting.
KUMAR: So, Co-executive director of Trust Women, Rebecca Tong, Governor Stitt, Rebecca’s waiting for you to go man the phones and talk to the constituents that you are trying to impact when you say you are, quote, you’re pro-life. Thank you very much, Rebecca, for joining me.
