CNN Newsroom spent part of Tuesday morning eagerly awaiting abortion-related announcements from President Biden that include $6 million worth of grants that CNN echoed the White House on by describing as for “reproductive health care.”
Against a chyron that read “Today: Biden to announce new guidelines to protect reproductive rights," host Poppy Harlow got the ball rolling by also using the left’s preferred language, “Later today President Biden is expected to announce new steps to try to boost reproductive rights and abortion protection in the United States. This comes 100 days after the Supreme Court upended 50 years of what was a constitutional right: abortion access. This also comes five weeks before the midterms.”
After introducing White House correspondent Arlette Saenz, Harlow continued, “Look, there's only so much, because of what the Supreme Court did in terms of giving states these rights, that the Biden Administration can do, but what will they lay out?”
The Court did not give states those rights, it just acknowledged that right exists and that a previous Court improperly suppressed it. As for Saenz, after she reported on a measure relation to the Department of Education and Title IX, she also repeated the left’s phrasing, “Additionally, there will be more than $6 million of grants issued from the Department of Health and Human Services that would protect access to reproductive health care.”
After reporting that the White House hopes abortion will help Democrats in November, Saenz concluded by declaring that:
President Biden in recent weeks has really leaned into criticizing some of the Republican proposals that have emerged since including that ban by Senator Lindsey Graham that would ban abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The president has said that signals some of the extreme positions that Republicans are taking and he's also said that Democrats need to be elected in order to codify Roe v. Wade into law. That is ultimately the way that abortion rights will be protected in this country, according to the White House.
Naturally, the segment that saw two CNN personalities uncritically repeat White House talking points did not point out that just because Biden says something is extreme, does not mean that it is.
This segment was sponsored by Bath Fitter.
Here is a transcript for the October 4 show:
CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto
10/4/2022
9:28 AM ET
POPPY HARLOW: Welcome back. Later today President Biden is expected to announce new steps to try to boost reproductive rights and abortion protection in the United States. This comes 100 days after the Supreme Court upended 50 years of what was a constitutional right: abortion access. This also comes five weeks before the midterms.
Let's go to our colleague Arlette Saenz, she’s live from the White House. Arlette, good morning. Look, there's only so much, because of what the Supreme Court did in terms of giving states these rights, that the Biden Administration can do, but what will they lay out?
ARLETTE SAENZ: Well, Poppy, President Biden is set to announce two new actions as he convenes a meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Health Care Access. Vice President Kamala Harris will also be on hand for that meeting which is the second such meeting of that group. And the White House is set to unveil two sets of actions that will be announced today.
The first relates to the Department of Education. They will be reissuing guidelines, reiterating that Title IX requires universities and institutions to protect students from discrimination, based on the basis of pregnancy. And that includes those who seek abortions. Additionally, there will be more than $6 million of grants issued from the Department of Health and Human Services that would protect access to reproductive health care.
This all comes as the administration, over the course of the summer, had ruled out a limited set of executive actions. But they want to show that they're trying to do all they can to protect abortion rights in this country. And it comes at a time where Democrats and the White House are hoping the issue of abortion will resonate with voters heading into the midterm elections.
President Biden in recent weeks has really leaned into criticizing some of the Republican proposals that have emerged since including that ban by Senator Lindsey Graham that would ban abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The president has said that signals some of the extreme positions that Republicans are taking and he's also said that Democrats need to be elected in order to codify Roe v. Wade into law. That is ultimately the way that abortion rights will be protected in this country, according to the White House.
