On Sunday during Face the Nation, CBS chief Washington correspondent, and fill-in host Major Garrett grilled Arizona Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs over her radical stance on abortion on demand, and it did not go well for her. Garrett, a former Fox News correspondent, seems to have remembered the journalistic lessons he learned from the network and continued to follow up and press Hobbs until she gave him an answer.
As a good journalist, Garrett started off by asking Hobbs a multi-pronged question on abortion: “Do you support the current 15-week ban in Arizona or would you seek a different approach? And is there a week limit different than 15 weeks you are in favor of? And if so, why?”
Each part of the question was straightforward and simple to answer, yet Hobbs had a hard time: “I don't support the 15-week ban,” Hobbs responded. Ignoring the other questions. She instead sought to attack her Republican opponent Kari Lake.
“Under a Kari Lake administration, we would have government-mandated forced births that risk women's lives. And her position is the one that's extreme, it's out of touch with where the majority of Arizonans are who support access to safe and legal abortion,” Hobbs snarled.
“What would the Hobbs administration’s week limit be for abortion access? If it's not 15 weeks, what is it?” Garrett interjected.
“Look,” Hobbs said. “abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor.”
She went on to say that “the government and politicians don't belong in that decision. We need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to perform.”
Again, Hobbs dodged the question that was asked. Realizing that, Garrett pressed again: “If an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?”
“I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it,” Hobbs snarked.
Translation: Hobbs is for abortion up to and including the moment of birth so long as it’s a “decision between a woman and her doctor.”
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CBS’s Face the Nation
10/9/2022
10:49:28 a.m. EasternMAJOR GARRETT: On the question of abortion, your opponent described you as something of an extremist. Those are her words, not ours. Do you support the current 15-week ban in Arizona or would you seek a different approach? And is there a week limit different than 15 weeks you are in favor of? And if so, why?
KATIE HOBBS: I don't support the 15-week ban. But let me just say that Kari Lake is entirely misconstruing my position on this issue. You and I both know that late-term abortion is extremely rare. And if it's being talked about, it's because something has gone incredibly wrong in a pregnancy.
A doctor is not going to perform an abortion late in a pregnancy just because somebody decided they want one. That is ridiculous. And she's saying this to distract from her incredibly extreme position, which she's gone on the record saying she supports Arizona's complete abortion ban, that is in the courts right now being decided if that will be the law of Arizona or not.
She's called it a great law. She's called people who seek abortion murderers and executioners. And under a Kari Lake administration, we would have government mandated forced births that risk women's lives. And her position is the one that's extreme, it's out of touch with where the majority of Arizonans are who support access to safe and legal abortion. And under her administration, women would not be safe.
GARRETT: What would the Hobbs administration’s week limit be for abortion access? If it's not 15 weeks, what is it?
HOBBS: Look, abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor. The government and politicians don't belong in that decision. We need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to perform.
GARRETT: If an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?
HOBBS: I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it.
