On the Thursday edition of MSNBC's The Beat, host Ari Melber showed a pre-recorded interview with liberal actress Alyssa Milano in which they discussed her recent activism against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and her support for abortion rights.
Melber also repeated the flawed polling which suggests most Americans support Roe v. Wade, and brought up Milano's invoking The Handmaid's Tale about a fictional American society that oppresses women.
After beginning the segment by recalling the case of an underage illegal immigrant who was delayed from getting an abortion while in detention and Milano's recent video depicting the story, Melber went to Milano explaining why she was involved in pushing abortion rights. Milano then declared: "This issue is about the health care of the underprivileged, the marginalized, the people that live in low-income communities because really it's going to be those people that are going to be effected most by this."
She then complained about Trump promising to appoint justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.
After Milano referred to polling suggesting Kvanaugh has a low approval rating, Melber brought up the latest misleading poll that makes it appear most Americans are more supportive of abortion rights than they actually are as he cited an ABC poll finding that 64 percent of respondents indicated support for the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, Melber: "And then Roe v. Wade -- as I think you know -- is actually up at 64 percent."
But, as previously documented by NewsBusters, while the dominant liberal media repeatedly cite polling which suggests Roe v. Wade by its name is popular in general, other polls which ask respondents specific questions about what abortion restrictions they support find that an overwhelming majority agree with restrictions that could only be enforced if Roe v. Wade were overturned.
For example, a January 2018 Marist poll found that 76 percent support banning abortion after the first trimester, while more than half open to restrictions even earlier in pregnancy.
And other polling finds almost 70 percent open to a law that would protect unborn babies after a heartbeat can be detected.
Melber then brought up the The Handmaid's Tale as he continued: "And that goes into the next thing that we wanted to ask you about, which is, activists have been protesting Kavanaugh -- some of them dressed up like The Handmaid's Tale costumes. And I know you did that as well -- you posted a photo on Twitter."
He then showed a clip from the television series in which young women were forced to bear children for couples unable to produce children of their own.
