Following Monday’s NBC Nightly News, Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, and Wednesday’s CBS Mornings, ABC used Wednesday’s Good Morning America to join what’s the latest example of a manufactured, public relations-driven campaign by liberal activists to promote the plantiffs of a new lawsuit seeking to chip away at Texas’s pro-life law that limits abortion to six weeks.
Of course, ABC gave no real attention to the pro-life cause, aside from a single sentence that ended the two-minute-and-46-second segment that summarized a statement from the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).
“Abortion lawsuit. Five women now suing the state of Texas saying they were denied potentially lifesaving care because of the state’s ban on the procedure. What they’re now pushing for,” cheered GMA co-host Michael Strahan in the first of two teases.
Correspondent Mireya Villarreal had the report from Dallas and began by saying the plantiffs “were more than happy to find out they were pregnant” with abortion being “the last thing they wanted and while they were able to get the procedure done outside of Texas, they are now fighting for women who don’t have that option.”
“This morning, five women suing the state of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the state’s medical board,” she proclaimed, adding they’ve argued “they were ‘“denied necessary and potentially lifesaving obstetrical care because medical professionals throughout the state fear liability under Texas’s abortion bans.’”
After a soundbite from a Center for Reproductive Rights lawyer, she shifted focus to one of the plaintiffs who, not surprisingly, was also spotlighted on CBS both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning (click “expand”):
VILLARREAL: According to the lawsuit, Anna Zargarian’s water broke just four months into her pregnancy leaving the baby without any amniotic sac inside the womb.
ANNA ZARGARIAN: And they said, even with the best care, a fetus cannot survive outside the womb at 19 weeks. My heart broke into a million pieces.
VILLARREAL: Aborting is typically advised in these cases because the mother could face sepsis, a life-threatening condition that happens when the body has an extreme response to infection. When the amniotic sac ruptures too early, the risk of infection increases for both mother and baby.
ZARGARIAN: The child I was so excited for wasn’t going to live and I needed an abortion to preserve my health but couldn’t get one in Texas.
Citing the pro-abortion group as fact, she insisted the suit wouldn’t be looking to end the “abortion ban” but instead “get a judge to provide medical clarity on the portion of the law that allows women to get an abortion in emergency cases.”
Two soundbites later from another plaintiff who went to Washington state to abort her child because a doctor said they had anencephaly, Villarreal provided the segment’s only contrary view:
The Texas attorney general’s office wouldn’t comment specifically on this lawsuit, but they did send us a statement saying in part that the AG is committed to doing everything in his power to protect mothers, families, and unborn children while also defending Texas law.
Wednesday’s CBS Mornings segment largely rehashed the piece from CBS’s PM counterpart on Tuesday. This time, however, CBS Mornings co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King had the setup:
In the first case of its kind in Texas, five women are suing the State claiming its abortion ban puts them in danger. Texas is one of 12 US States with the most restrictive new laws since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Janet Shamlian spoke to one of the plaintiffs who says she was not allowed to claim a medical emergency.
Correspondent Janet Shamlian spoke with the same plaintiff, but instead of one soundbite from Texas Right to Life President John Seago, there were two in the back half before returning to the abortion side (click “expand”):
SEAGO: We were honored to work on the Texas Heartbeat Act.
SHAMLIAN: John Seago helped that trigger law get passed. He says doctors need more education on what qualifies as life-saving.
SEAGO: Texas law does not require for a woman to be at death’s door to enact and to get involved and actually save that woman.
SHAMLIAN: The lawsuit asks the Court to clarify medical exemptions. Zargarian says she wants that for other women and eventually, a healthy baby for her family. [TO ZARGARIAN] Do you have hope to try again?
ZARGARIAN: You know, I do. But at this point in my life, it’s just really terrifying to think about getting pregnant in Texas again.
SHAMLIAN: This suit comes as a Federal Judge in Texas is expected to rule soon on a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the common abortion drug, mifepristone. That ruling could impact access even in States where abortion is protected.
Wednesday morning’s support for ending human live was made possible thanks to the endorsement of advertisers such as Crest (on CBS), DoorDash (on ABC), and Meta (the parent company of Facebook) (on ABC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from March 8, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
March 8, 2023
8:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Abortion Lawsuit; Five Women Sue Texas]
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Abortion lawsuit. Five women now suing the state of Texas saying they were denied potentially lifesaving care because of the state’s ban on the procedure. What they’re now pushing for.
(....)
8:08 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Morning Menu; 8:12; Texas Abortion Ban Lawsuit]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Coming up in our GMA Morning Menu, the women suing Texas over the state’s abortion ban. They said they were denied procedures despite facing medical emergencies.
(....)
8:13 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Cover Story; Women Sue Texas Over Abortion Ban; Say They Were Denied Procedure Despite Facing Medical Emergencies]
STRAHAN: And back now on GMA with the five women suing the state of Texas saying they were denied abortions even though they were facing medical emergencies that put their lives in danger. Mireya Villarreal is in Dallas with more for us. Good morning, Mireya.
MIREYA VILLARREAL: Hey, good morning, Michael. These mothers were more than happy to find out they were pregnant. They were picking baby names and planning baby showers and abortion was the last thing they wanted and while they were able to get the procedure done outside of Texas, they are now fighting for women who don’t have that option. This morning, five women suing the state of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the state’s medical board alleging they were “denied necessary and potentially lifesaving obstetrical care because medical professionals throughout the state fear liability under Texas’s abortion bans.”
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS’s MOLLY DUANE: What happened to the people standing behind me was a violation of their Texas constitutional rights.
VILLARREAL: According to the lawsuit, Anna Zargarian’s water broke just four months into her pregnancy leaving the baby without any amniotic sac inside the womb.
ANNA ZARGARIAN: And they said, even with the best care, a fetus cannot survive outside the womb at 19 weeks. My heart broke into a million pieces.
VILLARREAL: Aborting is typically advised in these cases because the mother could face sepsis, a life-threatening condition that happens when the body has an extreme response to infection. When the amniotic sac ruptures too early, the risk of infection increases for both mother and baby.
ZARGARIAN: The child I was so excited for wasn’t going to live and I needed an abortion to preserve my health but couldn’t get one in Texas.
VILLARREAL: The lawsuit, backed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group isn’t asking for the state’s abortion ban to be lifted. Instead, they’re trying to get a judge to provide medical clarity on the portion of the law that allows women to get an abortion in emergency cases. For Lauren Hall, another plaintiff in the suit, that emergency came after her 18-week scan.
LAUREN HALL: The maternal fetal specialist sadly told us our baby had anencephaly, a condition that causes a baby to develop with no skull and very little brain matter.
VILLARREAL: She flew to Seattle to have an abortion.
HALL: I love Texas and it kills me that my own state does not seem to care if I live or die.
VILLARREAL: The Texas attorney general’s office wouldn’t comment specifically on this lawsuit, but they did send us a statement saying in part that the AG is committed to doing everything in his power to protect mothers, families, and unborn children while also defending Texas law. Guys.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you, Mireya.
