On Friday, CBS This Morning was fearful of pro-life legislation passed in Louisiana that would require abortion doctors have admitting privileges to hospitals. The coverage sounded the alarm about the move potentially “regulating abortion out of existence” in the state and fretted over the upcoming Supreme Court decision that would determine whether the new law violated Roe v. Wade.
“CBS News has learned that Louisiana could become the first state in the country without access to abortion as soon as next year,” co-host Gayle King proclaimed at the top of the segment. She then explained how the fate of the state’s abortion industry was in the hands of the high court: “The Supreme Court will consider a challenge to Louisiana’s so-called Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. The decision could end abortion services at Louisiana’s last remaining clinics.”
Turning to correspondent Kate Smith, King worried: “So if abortion is federally protected, how is this possible?” Smith explained:
So, Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion, but it leaves a lot of room for states to regulate the procedure. And how far a state can go is exactly what the Supreme Court will be considering next year. In Louisiana, the law would require doctors to get permission from hospitals to admit their patients in case of an emergency in order to perform abortions. But local clinics, they told us that most hospitals don’t grant abortion doctors that permission.
After playing a sympathetic exchange with abortion clinic administrator Kathleen Pittman, Smith warned: “If Louisiana is successful in effectively regulating abortion out of existence, it could provide a road map for other anti-abortion states to follow.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil congratulated Smith on her “great reporting” and promised viewers that she would “stay on the issue.”
Smith has essentially become the network’s abortion correspondent. Earlier in the month, she appeared on the morning show to promote the opening of a “ginormous” Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois. King wondered if the facility was “getting a lot of business.”
Here is a full transcript of the October 18 report:
7:18 AM ET
GAYLE KING: CBS News has learned that Louisiana could become the first state in the country without access to abortion as soon as next year. The Supreme Court will consider a challenge to Louisiana’s so-called Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. The decision could end abortion services at Louisiana’s last remaining clinics.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Louisiana Abortion Battle; SCOTUS to Consider Case That Could Close the State’s Last Clinic]
CBS News reporter Kate Smith has been covering the abortion fight in Louisiana and joins us at the table. Kate, welcome back. So if abortion is federally protected, how is this possible?
KATE SMITH: So, Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion, but it leaves a lot of room for states to regulate the procedure. And how far a state can go is exactly what the Supreme Court will be considering next year. In Louisiana, the law would require doctors to get permission from hospitals to admit their patients in case of an emergency in order to perform abortions. But local clinics, they told us that most hospitals don’t grant abortion doctors that permission. In fact, only two doctors in the entire state have ever been successful in obtaining those hospital privileges. One is no longer providing abortions, and the other said he would quit if the Supreme Court upholds that law. We spoke to his clinic’s administrator.
KATHLEEN PITTMAN [HOPE MEDICAL GROUP FOR WOMEN CLINIC ADMINISTRATOR]: He’s been targeted at home, at his primary office. There have been veiled threats. There’s constant online harassment through social media.
SMITH: And if he did step down, would you understand?
PITTMAN: It would be devastating for all of us, and not just the staff but for the women that we generally serve. It would be devastating for all of them.
SMITH: If Louisiana is successful in effectively regulating abortion out of existence, it could provide a road map for other anti-abortion states to follow.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Great reporting, Kate. And we know you will stay on the issue. Thank you very much.
