On CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight, the eponymous host despicably and falsely claimed that 10-year-old girls being forced to cross state lines to get abortions after being raped is “what a post-Roe America looks like.” Lemon also suggested that tragedies like what happened with the 10-year-old girl in Ohio are common in the state.
“A 10-year-old girl, raped and forced to travel across state lines to get an abortion. This is a new reality in our country” Lemon claimed as if this never happened prior to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Turning to senior political analyst Kristin Powers, Lemon proclaimed “this is what a post-Roe America looks like a 10-year-old rape victim has to travel across state lines to get the medical care that she needs.”
Of course, this ignores the fact that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had previously stated the girl could’ve received an abortion under her unique circumstances.
In response Powers “this is predictably what was going to happen and I think the idea that women, children would be forced to give birth to I’d say to any child that they don't want to, especially if we are talking about a 10- year-old. You know as the result of rape is just, it’s sick.”
Turning to his other guest CNN political analyst Scott Jennings, Lemon whined that “some Republicans you know who support the most restrictive abortion laws tried to pretend, Scott that this tragedy didn't happen, others say that it is rare but according to the Ohio Department of Health 52 girls under the age of 14 had abortions in 2020 in that state alone.”
Lemon obviously has trouble with math since by his own admission, 52 girls under fourteen have had abortions in Ohio in 2020. Given that according to most recent statistics, there are almost six million females in Ohio, that 52 number is statistically insignificant. Obviously, all 52 of those girls’ situations are a tragedy.
Jennings responded that he wants “to hear more about, number one is what is Ohio law actually allow because there’s some people who think she might not have had to have crossed over to Indiana I know that she did go there for that procedure so I want to hear more about that because in a post-Roe world this is going to be the law, what the state says, not what the Supreme Court says.”
Jennings then added that he “was skeptical of this story when it first came out you had a story with one source there were no police reports, no arrests, no government sources so I was initially very skeptical of it. And then the police then finally made an arrest and made an announcement and at that point all you can really do is just dwell on the tragedy of it.”
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To read the relevant transcript click expand:
CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight
July 14, 2022
10:39:21 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: A 10-year-old girl, raped and forced to travel across state lines to get an abortion. This is a new reality in our country and I want to discuss now with CNN political commentator Scott Jennings and senior political analyst Kristin Powers. Good to see both of you, thanks for joining us, Kirsten I mean listen, this is despicable that this tragedy has become political but the reality is this is what a post-Roe America looks like a 10-year-old rape victim has to travel across state lines to get the medical care that she needs.
KIRSTEN POWERS: Right but and it’s hard to even say that she’s lucky in any way because she’s obviously not lucky but at least there was a place for her to go. To actually get an abortion and there are people certainly in the state she went to who would like very much for that to not have been the case. So this is predictably what was going to happen and I think the idea that women, children would be forced to give birth to I’d say to any child that they don't want to, especially if we are talking about a 10- year-old. You know as the result of rape is just, it’s sick.
Imagine, I don't know what else to call it, something is very very wrong. When you have people actually defending this and there are people that are defending this. Including the person from the National Right to Life Committee that drafted this sort of model legislation saying that this 10-year-old should have been forced to give birth and that at some point she would hopefully come to understand the reason and the benefit, the benefit of giving birth to her rapist's child, this is a person who holds a position, a senior position in the National Right to Life movement so this is just extremist behavior. And it’s scary. I mean I think people should be very scared.
LEMON: We will talk more about that quote that you mentioned the benefit but I want to get Scott's response because some Republicans you know who support the most restrictive abortion laws tried to pretend, Scott that this tragedy didn't happen, others say that it is rare but according to the Ohio Department of Health 52 girls under the age of 14 had abortions in 2020 in that state alone. So what is going to happen to all of those young girls in this scenario now?
SCOTT JENNINGS: Well, a couple things I want to hear more about, number one is what is Ohio law actually allow because there’s some people who think she might not have had to have crossed over to Indiana I know that she did go there for that procedure so I want to hear more about that because in a post-Roe world this is going to be the law, what the state says, not what the Supreme Court says so that’s number one, number two regarding the skepticism and I want to freely admit I was skeptical of this story when it first came out you had a story with one source there were no police reports, no arrests, no government sources so I was initially very skeptical of it. And then the police then finally made an arrest and made an announcement and at that point all you can really do is just dwell on the tragedy of it.
