Wednesday’s installment of Andrea Mitchell Reports continued MSNBC’s tradition of fearing what would happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned with Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor reporting from Louisiana that “this is really going to be a regional problem.”
After noting and lamenting many of the women are also from Texas, Alcindor concluded, “So, this is really going to be a regional problem and some women who, again, have very little means, they would be forced to drive, 10, 12, 13 hours to other states, even as far as Maryland or Illinois. So, really, a real problem here, a lot of concern here.”
Earlier in the segment, guest host Peter Alexander got the discussion rolling by sounding like a Planned Parenthood lobbyist, “Of course, the leak is a head line, but the real story here is the impact on women's reproductive rights, on abortion rights. Yamiche, I want to get to you, you’re in Louisiana today after spending yesterday in Mississippi. Two states that could enact abortion bans immediately if that Alito draft becomes the law of the land, what are you hearing from folks there? What are the primary concerns? And what are they already planning to do about it?”
Alcindor began by referencing Tuesday’s MTP Daily:
one of only three abortion providers in the state and like the only abortion clinic in Mississippi where I was yesterday, this is an abortion clinic still operational, but there's worry about how long that's going to last and I just spoke to the administrator of this clinic who said she's losing sleep, not sleeping well at all, thinking about the women who would lose access to abortion if this clinic was shut down, which is what would happen, because Louisiana, like Mississippi, is part of the 13 group of states that have trigger laws which would mean abortion would be banned soon after if Roe was overturned.
Alcindor then teed up a clip of clinic administrator Kathleen Pittman, who declared “If Roe is overturned, Louisiana becomes a—a-- wasteland as far as women's health care, as far as we're concerned and this is a state that's poor. This is a state that has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation or very close to it. One—one-- or, first or second. So, it's unconscionable. I don't see how anyone could call themselves pro-life and put women in this predicament.”
After the clip, Alcindor returned to add suggest pro-life laws are also racially discriminatory, “She also told me that the women that are coming here, that they are overwhelmingly women below the federal poverty line. That a lot of them, the majority are women of color.”
As for the pro-life perspective, that got a measly and underwhelming ten words with no reference to unborn babies, “conservatives are celebrating what, they see this as a victory.”
This segment was sponsored by Choice Hotels.
Here is a transcript for the May 4 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
5/4/2022
12:04 PM ET
PETER ALEXANDER: Of course, the leak is a head line, but the real story here is the impact on women's reproductive rights, on abortion rights. Yamiche, I want to get to you, you’re in Louisiana today after spending yesterday in Mississippi. Two states that could enact abortion bans immediately if that Alito draft becomes the law of the land, what are you hearing from folks there? What are the primary concerns? And what are they already planning to do about it?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, I’m here in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Hope Medical Group for Women, one of only three abortion providers in the state and like the only abortion clinic in Mississippi where I was yesterday, this is an abortion clinic still operational, but there's worry about how long that's going to last and I just spoke to the administrator of this clinic who said she's losing sleep, not sleeping well at all, thinking about the women who would lose access to abortion if this clinic was shut down, which is what would happen, because Louisiana, like Mississippi, is part of the 13 group of states that have trigger laws which would mean abortion would be banned soon after if Roe was overturned.
Now, listen to what Kathleen Pittman told me about her worries about women and—and-- who would be impacted.
KATHLEEN PITTMAN: If Roe is overturned, Louisiana becomes a—a-- wasteland as far as women's health care, as far as we're concerned and this is a state that's poor. This is a state that has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation or very close to it. One—one-- or, first or second. So, it's unconscionable. I don't see how anyone could call themselves pro-life and put women in this predicament.
ALCINDOR: She also told me that the women that are coming here, that they are overwhelmingly women below the federal poverty line. That a lot of them, the majority are women of color. Also we should note that a number of the women that are coming here are from Texas, because Texas last year passed the – they’re calling it S.B. 8, which is a ban on abortions after six weeks. That administrator told me that she’s been inundated with women calling, making appointments, she said her waiting lists at times is over 300 women trying to seek abortions. So, this is really going to be a regional problem and some women who, again, have very little means, they would be forced to drive, 10, 12, 13 hours to other states, even as far as Maryland or Illinois. So, really, a real problem here, a lot of concern here. As I should say, conservatives are celebrating what, they see this as a victory.
