Hours after Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a 15-week abortion ban, ABC’s World News Tonight & PBS NewsHour went into meltdown mode, with ABC guest anchor Linsey Davis calling the bill’s passage a “major new setback to abortion access.”
ABC congressional correspondent Rachel Scott, while reporting hyperbolically for Davis, wailed that Florida is “joining a wave of states restricting access to abortion.”
Continuing on her despondent coverage, Scott fretted how the Florida law “goes into effect July 1, and the exceptions are narrow, only made if it's ‘necessary to save the pregnant woman's life’ or poses a 'serious risk.'”
Just as horrifying to her is the fact that “several states have enacted laws blocking access to abortion.” This includes Oklahoma which “enacted a law to make performing an abortion illegal, punishable by up to ten years in prison.”
Moving on from the Florida law and Oklahoma laws, Scott turned her ire toward Kentucky where she bemoaned how “Republican lawmakers overrode the Governor's veto on a new strict law there, forcing the only two remaining clinics in the state to stop providing the procedure while the law is challenged in court.”
Scott parroted the talking points of abortion activists throughout her report, noting how the “consequences are dire” and how the new laws will “force patients to travel out of state for procedures.” Not once did she quote from, or interview pro-life advocates.
Over on PBS News Hour, it was just as one-sided, with national correspondent John Yang interviewing leftist “journalist” Shefali Luthra from nonprofit news site “The 19th.”
Lawsuits filed in federal court are asking a judge to halt Kentucky's new abortion law from taking effect while it's litigated.
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 14, 2022
Our @JohnYangTV speaks with @shefalil of The 19th about what this means for those seeking access to abortion services. https://t.co/MSJmRDrhEG pic.twitter.com/27rZsiQXcR
Yang fretted to Luthra in a snarky tone about how the Kentucky abortion ban took effect after Republican legislators dared to override Democrat Governor Andy Beshear's veto.
He then strategized with Luthra on how women in Kentucky can get their abortions:
YANG: So the two outpatient abortion providers in Kentucky, you say they have had to stop. And what’s this doing to women in Kentucky who want to terminate their pregnancies?
SHEFALI LUTHRA: There are no clinic-based options for abortions at this point in Kentucky because you’re right, there's Planned Parenthood and there’s EMW. Hospitals perform some abortions, but it’s a really tiny fraction. Maybe a dozen out of more than 3000 abortions done every year. So if you live in Kentucky at this point and you want an abortion, really your only option is to travel out of state. The next nearest places are Indiana, maybe Ohio, maybe Tennessee, but those can be long, expensive journeys, and an abortion is already a very expensive inherently unplanned expense.
The media has always been in the tank for the radical abortionists, now that the Supreme Court is poised to possibly strike down Roe vs Wade, and pro-life laws are being passed all around the country, the leftist media is being forced to be more open with their lobbying.
ABC & PBS lobbying for abortion "rights" was made possible thanks to Xyzal on ABC, and taxpayers like you on PBS.
To read the relevant transcript of each segment click "expand":
ABC’s World News Tonight
4/14/2022
6:43:25 p.m. EasternLINSEY DAVIS: Next tonight, a major new setback to abortion access. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis signing into law a 15-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking. It's the latest in a growing number of states enacting strict new measures ahead of a Supreme Court decision that could roll back abortion rights nationwide. Here's ABC's Rachel Scott.
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, Florida joining a wave of states restricting access to abortion. Governor Ron DeSantis today signing a new law banning most abortions past 15 weeks.
(...)
SCOTT: The law goes into effect July 1st, and the exceptions are narrow, only made if it's "necessary to save the pregnant woman's life" or poses a "serious risk." There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Across the country, several states have enacted laws blocking access to abortion. Just this week alone, Oklahoma enacted a law to make performing an abortion illegal, punishable by up to ten years in prison. Only exception is to save the life of the mother. It's set to take effect this summer.
TALCOTT CAMP (CHIEF LEGAL & STRATEGY OFFICER, NATIONAL ABORTION FEDERATION): The implications for people in Oklahoma are devastating.
SCOTT: And 24 hours later in Kentucky, Republican lawmakers overrode the Governor's veto on a new strict law there, forcing the only two remaining clinics in the state to stop providing the procedure while the law is challenged in court. Opponents say Kentucky is now the first state without legal abortion access since the landmark Roe versus Wade decision nearly 50 years ago.
Abortion rights advocates say the consequences are dire, that these new laws will force patients to travel out of state for procedures. All of this will certainly be challenged in court. And this very issue comes before the Supreme Court this summer.
PBS NewsHour
4/14/2022
7:38:03 p.m. EasternJOHN YANG: Kentucky's law took effect yesterday after the state's Republican-controlled legislature overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's veto. Both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood immediately asked a federal judge to block the new law, saying it violates the current Supreme Court limits on what states may do about abortion.
(...)
YANG: So the two outpatient abortion providers in Kentucky, you say they have had to stop. And what’s this doing to women in Kentucky who want to terminate their pregnancies?
SHEFALI LUTHRA: There are no clinic-based options for abortions at this point in Kentucky because you’re right, there's Planned Parenthood and there’s EMW. Hospitals perform some abortions, but it’s a really tiny fraction. Maybe a dozen out of more than 3000 abortions done every year. So if you live in Kentucky at this point and you want an abortion, really your only option is to travel out of state. The next nearest places are Indiana, maybe Ohio, maybe Tennessee, but those can be long, expensive journeys, and an abortion is already a very expensive inherently unplanned expense.
