CNN At This Hour guest host Bianna Golodryga welcomed Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith onto Tuesday program for a softball interview about how Republicans are terrible, how overturning Roe v. Wade will damage the economy, and not talking about the pro-life group that was firebombed over the weekend.
After previewing Wednesday’s Senate doomed show vote on limitless abortions, Golodryga observed, “It's interesting because Republicans are framing this debate over abortion rights in terms of what Americans value more, and they're arguing and betting on Republicans focusing on the economy and inflation and that's something that's going to get voters to the polls.”
Golodryga then claimed it was interesting that a Democratic Treasury Secretary would find good things to say about Roe, “but it was interesting to hear from Treasury Secretary [Janet] Yellen just this morning because she was asked about the economic impact of overturning Roe and she said that it would have a, quote, ‘very damaging’ effect on the economy."
CNN then showed a clip of Yellen declaring, “Roe v. Wade and access to reproductive health care including abortion help lead to increased labor force participation. It enabled many women to finish school that increased their earning potential. It allowed women to plan and balance their families and careers, and research also shows that it had a favorable impact on the well-being and earnings of—of-- children.”
After the clip, Golodryga returned to add, “Now, she's basing that on empirical data, but—but-- Senator Rick Scott just called that explanation callous and harsh.”
While Golodryga got her Scotts mixed up—it was Tim Scott, not Rick Scott--, she wasn’t necessarily wrong, but the point was that Democrats are offering up innocent babies on the altar of economic statistics. Instead of pressing Smith on that point, she just asked, “What do you think about framing this debate in those terms, in terms of economic impact?””
Smith, of course, agreed with Yellen, “She was expressing what I believe almost every woman knows. If you don't have control over your reproductive life, you don't have control over any aspect of your life, including your economic opportunity, your opportunity to provide for your children and the rest of your family… I think we are going to be holding this vote tomorrow to really dramatize what's happening here and—and—and-- what Republicans think, who Republicans think ought to have the power over this most personal of decisions.”
With that Golodryga brought the interview to a close without asking Smith about the attack in neighboring Wisconsin on the offices of Wisconsin Family Action and whether or not her rhetoric is to blame.
This segment was sponsored by GoDaddy.
Here is a transcript for the May 10 show:
CNN At This Hour with Kate Bolduan
5/10/2022
11:46 AM ET
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Another urgent issue for—for-- Democrats is codifying abortion rights and that's something that you're going to vote on tomorrow, a bill that would codify access to abortion into federal law. Democrats don't have the votes to pass this, so is this just to get Republicans on the record here?
TINA SMITH: Well, let's understand first what this vote is. This vote is all about who has the power to decide what happens in women's lives and to women's bodies, and Democrats are on the side of the vast majority of Americans who say that decision should rest with women who know best, who have the capacity to make the best decisions for themselves.
So yes, I think it's very important that we put our Republican colleagues on record as being completely out of step with where Americans are. My Republican colleagues have been pushing for decades to overturn Roe v. Wade, and now what we have is them all sort of running for the hills and trying to change the subject. I think that's what accountability looks like in a democracy, and that's why it's so important that we have this -- that we have this vote.
GOLODRYGA: It's interesting because Republicans are framing this debate over abortion rights in terms of what Americans value more, and they're arguing and betting on Republicans focusing on the economy and inflation and that's something that's going to get voters to the polls, but it was interesting to hear from Treasury Secretary Yellen just this morning because she was asked about the economic impact of overturning Roe and she said that it would have a, quote, “very damaging” effect on the economy. Here's her explanation. Listen.
JANET YELLEN: Roe v. Wade and access to reproductive health care including abortion help lead to increased labor force participation. It enabled many women to finish school that increased their earning potential. It allowed women to plan and balance their families and careers, and research also shows that it had a favorable impact on the well-being and earnings of—of-- children.
GOLODRYGA: Now, she's basing that on empirical data, but—but-- Senator Rick Scott just called that explanation callous and harsh. What do you think about framing this debate in those terms, in terms of economic impact?
SMITH: Well, I serve on the Banking Housing Committee and was there when Secretary Yellen made those comments. She was expressing what I believe almost every woman knows. If you don't have control over your reproductive life, you don't have control over any aspect of your life, including your economic opportunity, your opportunity to provide for your children and the rest of your family. That's why abortion is a fundamental freedom.
It's the fundamental opportunity. First, it's fundamentally about autonomy. So, I think that this new argument that is coming out of the Senate Republicans, which seemed to suggest that women have to choose between addressing economic opportunity on the one hand or having this fundamental freedom over their -- and control over their own bodies on the other hand just shows how out of step they are. Women and people don't actually think about their lives in those terms. They're not all siloed off like that. Of course these two things go hand in hand, and it is one of the reasons why I think we are going to be holding this vote tomorrow to really dramatize what's happening here and—and—and-- what Republicans think, who Republicans think ought to have the power over this most personal of decisions.
GOLODRYGA: Senator Tina Smith, thank you. We appreciate your time.
