As President Biden prepared to sign some abortion-related executive orders on Friday, Andrea Mitchell fretted at the elimination of abortion while former Obama policy director and MSNBC contributor Dr. Kavita Patel hit Biden from the left on his Dobbs response and warned that pro-life laws will turn parts of the U.S. into a third world country.
Mitchell expressed hope that the orders will be able to curtail the surge of pro-life laws taking effect after the Dobbs decision, “And Dr. Patel, abortion and access to care for patients, for those seeking these procedures, it's urgent. Obviously time sensitive. So, how much will this, kind of, executive order even help these people?”
Patel began by criticizing the White House’s communications strategy from the left, “Yeah, Andrea. I don't think it's a shock to say that I'm disappointed that they're not calling it what it is. I actually think Vice President Kamala Harris referred to it when the decision came down as a health crisis. That's exactly what it is.”
However, she did “understand and sympathize” with the White House, acknowledging there isn’t much Biden can do.
Later in the segment, Mitchell lamented to Patel the closing of the last abortion clinic in Mississippi and the lack of abortion availability in the south, “The case, of course, Jackson -- in Jackson, Mississippi, which was the center of the Dobbs ruling. So, that's now closed and in many southern states now there’s just no options. People have to travel hundreds if not a thousand miles to Illinois to get the first access or down to Florida.”
Patel proceeded to go straight into fear mongering:
Think about this. It's not just that the access for individuals today, in this moment, is cut off. There's also really, you know, no funnel or pipe to train clinicians of any kind, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses. This is going to be an entire care team who no longer can recognize, not even just complications of spontaneous abortions, missed miscarriages, but Andrea, it’s—it’s very dangerous in health care to have such a blind spot from lack of access for patients and families and also the lack of actual high quality care.
Continuing, Patel warned, “We are shifting parts of our country to a third world country in terms of not being able to train, not recognizing conditions, and not even being able to treat when people present until they are on death's bed. That's literally what's happening in some states.”
And what about all the abortions that occur simply because they can? What about all of those deaths?
This segment was sponsored by Dell.
Here is a transcript for the July 8 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
7/8/2022
11:49 AM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Dr. Patel, abortion and access to care for patients, for those seeking these procedures, it's urgent. Obviously time sensitive. So, how much will this, kind of, executive order even help these people?
KAVITA PATEL: Yeah, Andrea. I don't think it's a shock to say that I'm disappointed that they're not calling it what it is. I actually think Vice President Kamala Harris referred to it when the decision came down as a health crisis. That's exactly what it is. I do think, however -- I understand and sympathize -- the administration is, kind of, in a corner in some ways because they don’t have as much authority in this situation.
But, Andrea, what we could use more of than anything right now is clarity. I’ll give you a concrete example. Many of us were trying to help facilitate prescriptions with patients who are in other states. We have that ability. I have a license in other states. I can prescribe. And a question came up about whether our malpractice carriers would actually honor that. And so there are these types of questions and then Hyde Amendment rules, not being able to use federal funds to—to-- deliver any sort of abortion services. We all know that exists, but does that mean a patient could come on to a federal clinic, such as mine, and pay out of pocket? These are great questions that we deserve answers to. It is a health crisis. Patients need those answers now. I don't think EOs we will get that, but I hope that will be the outcome soon.
…
MITCHELL: And to that point, Dr. Patel, in Mississippi the last-- the last clinic—the last clinic providing any services for abortions closed. The case, of course, Jackson -- in Jackson, Mississippi, which was the center of the Dobbs ruling. So, that's now closed and in many southern states now there’s just no options. People have to travel hundreds if not a thousand miles to Illinois to get the first access or down to Florida.
PATEL: Yeah, and—and--, Andrea, it has ramifications for training. Think about this. It's not just that the access for individuals today, in this moment, is cut off. There's also really, you know, no funnel or pipe to train clinicians of any kind, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses. This is going to be an entire care team who no longer can recognize, not even just complications of spontaneous abortions, missed miscarriages, but Andrea, it’s—it’s very dangerous in health care to have such a blind spot from lack of access for patients and families and also the lack of actual high quality care.
We are shifting parts of our country to a third world country in terms of not being able to train, not recognizing conditions, and not even being able to treat when people present until they are on death's bed.
That's literally what's happening in some states. You have to be at the point where you are septic, which means that, you know, your blood pressure has just dropped dramatically and that you're essentially as close to dying as possible in order for a team to intervene. That’s how the laws have been written and I just don't think the majority of Americans realize that and even--and even-- if they did, it's so unclear right now what we can do about it and I think that's why everybody is frustrated.
