In the wake of Politico publishing a leaked draft of a SCOTUS decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, the liberal media have given us hot takes, dumb takes, and very angry takes. But on Tuesday’s edition of World News Tonight on ABC, national correspondent Terry Moran gave us a pretty morbid one as he lamented that a toddler at a protest “might grow up in a country without the choice” (emphasis his). He also seemed to accuse conservative justices of lying to Congress.
Leading into the segment, anchor David Muir spoke in a very sober tone. “Tonight, the court has now confirmed that this draft ruling is real. The ruling shows five conservative justices ready to overturn Roe vs. Wade,” he warned. He then parroted talking points personally handed out by President Biden, “warning it raises questions about other issues of privacy, including contraception and the right to marry.”
In reality, Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion specifically carved out abortion citing the taking of a life.
Later on in the report, Moran was outside the Supreme Court speaking with protesters and spotted a pro-abortion mother carrying her toddler daughter. He questioned the mother about her daughter not getting to have “the choice”:
MORAN: She might grow up in a country without the choice.
PRO-CHOICE MOTHER (with a toddler in her arms): Yeah.
MORAN: What do you think about that?
PRO-CHOICE MOTHER: It's horrible. It's so depressing. It's shocking. I can't believe it. And it makes me want to move to a different country.
“But outside, at the steps of the court, it felt like the deed had already been done,” he lamented.
Moran also gawked at a pro-life woman who was happy about the draft ruling:
PRO-LIFE WOMAN: When I saw it, I was texting everyone, I mean, it was just -- what?! It's incredible and –
MORAN: With joy?
PRO-LIFE WOMAN: With joy, indeed. We're ecstatic.
Examining some of the out-of-context arguments Alito made in the majority opinion, Moran took issue with how “Several times, Alito describes medical doctors who provide abortion services as ‘Abortionists.’”
And while completely ignoring Alito’s argument for why abortion is not a constitutional right, Moran scoffed at his conclusion:
And Alito dismisses the argument in Roe vs. Wade that the right to choose abortion is part of the constitutional guarantee of liberty and privacy, insisting: "The inescapable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation's history and traditions."
Moran also pressed the ridiculous liberal notion that the conservative justices appointed by former President Trump (Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) had committed perjury by lying to Congress.
“[T]hey were all pressed about whether they would overrule Roe vs. Wade at their confirmation hearings,” he said, noting that moderate Republican Susan Collins is whining that the ruling “would be completely inconstant” with what she interpreted from their conversations.
The morbid mourning for Roe v. Wade was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Fisher Investments and Pfizer. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
May 3, 2022
6:33:03 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID MUIR: Tonight, the court has now confirmed that this draft ruling is real. The ruling shows five conservative justices ready to overturn Roe vs. Wade. The 1973 decision that laid the foundation for abortion rights in this country.
(…)
6:34:08 p.m. Eastern
President Biden tonight calling this draft ruling a “radical decision” and warning it raises questions about other issues of privacy, including contraception and the right to marry.
(…)
6:35:07 p.m. Eastern
TERRY MORAN: The leaked document dated February 10 is labeled the first draft of an opinion of the court. Written by Justice Samuel Alito, the 67-page draft opinion is clear, sharp, and scornful, declaring in its opening paragraphs that Roe vs. Wade "must be overruled" and that the 1972 ruling "was egregiously wrong from the start." Alito adding: "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak."
Several times, Alito describes medical doctors who provide abortion services as "Abortionists." And Alito dismisses the argument in Roe vs. Wade that the right to choose abortion is part of the constitutional guarantee of liberty and privacy, insisting: "The inescapable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation's history and traditions."
Foreseeing the controversy that overruling Roe will generate, Alito writes the court must be above it all. "We cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public's reaction to our work."
The leaked opinion is written on behalf of five conservative justices. Three of them, appointed by President Donald Trump, and they were all pressed about whether they would overrule Roe vs. Wade at their confirmation hearings.
NEIL GORSUCH: So a good judge will consider it as precedent of the United States Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other.
MORAN: Justice Brett Kavanaugh was even more specific.
BRETT KAVANAUGH: One of the important things to keep in mind about Roe v. Wade is that it has been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years.
MORAN: Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a supporter of abortion rights, was a critical Republican vote for Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch, but today, in a statement, she says they may have deceived her. "If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconstant with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office."
(…)
6:37:12 p.m. Eastern
MORAN: But outside, at the steps of the court, it felt like the deed had already been done.
She might grow up in a country without the choice.
PRO-CHOICE MOTHER (with a toddler in her arms): Yeah.
MORAN: What do you think about that?
PRO-CHOICE MOTHER: It's horrible. It's so depressing. It's shocking. I can't believe it. And it makes me want to move to a different country.
MORAN: This moment, it must feel like triumph is at hand.
PRO-LIFE WOMAN: Indeed. It does. [Transition] When I saw it, I was texting everyone, I mean, it was just -- what?! It's incredible and --
MORAN: With joy?
PRO-LIFE WOMAN: With joy, indeed. We're ecstatic.
