As she’s done before on The View, host Meghan McCain gave a strong pro-life argument from the table of liberals, amidst their cheerleading for feminism on the March 8 show, which fell on International Women’s Day. McCain argued with fellow host Joy Behar that feminism wasn’t as straightforward as the dictionary definition. “[Does feminism include] the rights of unborn women as well?” McCain asked upfront.
The segment began with host Whoopi Goldberg noting it was International Women's Day, and wondering if her fellow hosts considered themselves feminists. Meghan McCain was the first host to directly answer the question.
“People don’t like this but I don’t consider myself a feminist and its really an inconvenient difficult place for a conservative pro-life woman,” she noted. “The Women’s March in particular felt very exclusive,” she added, slamming Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris as women who assumed abortion rights were a number one issue for all women.
“A lot of women don't think abortion rights are the number one issue.I think Hillary Clinton ran into this that there was an assumption, just because I'm a woman I'm going to vote for a woman. It's also about defeating ISIS. It’s also foreign policy. All issues are women's issues,” she gushed.
Host Joy Behar tried to correct McCain by reading her the definition of feminism.
“I know it but I think it's been co-opted by a lot of things culturally,” McCain shot back.
“The definition is the belief that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities,” Behar went on.
But McCain suddenly put all the feminist cheerleading come to a screeching halt with her next question.
“Does that mean the rights of unborn women as well?” she confronted Behar.
[I]t depends,” Whoopi jumped in. Behar added that there was room for disagreement within the definition of feminism.
“Within that definition there are many people who disagree but you can still be a feminist wanting women to have the same rights as men,”Behar stated.
Host Sunny Hostin argued, as she has before, that she a “pro-life Catholic,” but felt that feminism was more about “equal pay and equal rights.”
“I think it's actually very inclusive and I actually think men can be feminist as well. You don't have to be a woman to be a feminist,” she argued, to cheers and applause.
Guest host ABC News journalist Deborah Roberts voiced support for McCain’s assessment that she didn’t like how the term had been co-opted culturally.
“But I'm kind of with Meghan for different reasons though because I'm not sure that I identify myself as a feminist, although by that definition I am. But I'm also a Southerner and I guess I'm a little more traditional,” Roberts said, appealing to gentlemanly manners as an example as to why she didn’t identify as a feminist.
McCain took that up and noted that her and Roberts were “in the majority” according to a survey which showed “54%” of Americans didn’t identify as feminists.
“I have a problem when it's so tied up with Planned Parenthood, with Cecile Richards. I don't understand why conservative women are not given the same platform at women's marches to talk about our perspective,” she argued.
Host Whoopi Goldberg didn’t like that assessment and claimed that pro-life women were included in the various women’s marches.
“Actually they are and have been turned down because I invited several women to the Women's March,” Whoopi cryptically stated.
But when asked bluntly by McCain, whom Whoopi invited, the liberal host couldn’t offer names.
“I will give you a list when I get upstairs,” she floundered.
McCain has been a staunch advocate of pro-life women and values during her short career so far on the liberal talk show. While host Sunny Hostin has identified as a pro-life Catholic, her own arguments from the table are virtually indistinguishable from the pro-choice hosts.McCain has been much more outspoken and clear in her defense of the pro-life position, slamming the Women’s March for “leaving out” pro-life women.
