Since Friday was the eve of the first anniversary of the overturn of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski spent over half an hour of the show angrily panicking over the effects of the ruling and conferring with several guests on their general hatred for the Dobbs decision and “the conservative court” that had passed it. She also brought up a discussion of the abortifacient drug, mifepristone, which had been approved by the FDA shortly before, provoking outbursts from the two Democrat Attorneys General that she hosted on the show.
Brzezinski opened the show with a description of the Dobbs decision—from the point of view of a liberal who’s never actually read the case:
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's regressive decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, that legalized abortion in the U.S., a dangerous and retrograde move by the conservative court that paved the way for states to radically obstruct abortion access for millions upon millions of American women.
Yes, she did just call the court decision that once again left the abortion issue up to state government instead of the federal government, a “regressive” and “dangerous and retrograde move.” It’s almost like she wanted the federal government to have ultimate control over the issue…
Brzezinski then pulled up a map which highlighted the 14 states where abortion had been banned since the Dobbs decision, calling these states “unsafe for women, especially women of childbearing age.”
First, Brzezinski, you misspoke; the politically correct term is “birthing person,” not “woman.” Second, this statement implied that illegalizing abortion in a state would be inherently harmful to all women, but especially those of childbearing age, even including those who were not pregnant and those who never intended to have an abortion at all.
Brzezinski seemed to back this statement up later on by claiming that, since when a woman is “forced to carry fetal abnormalities to term, they often can’t have children again,” and since apparently abortion “in many cases preserves a woman’s ability to bear a child again” in these cases, then those Republicans who opposed abortion “support sterilization of women by denying them the health care they need.”
In this claim, not only was she reducing the infinitely precious life of a child conceived with prenatal abnormalities or disabilities to only “fetal abnormalities” that must be gotten rid of, but she was also drawing a direct correlation and causation between an abortion ban and women becoming infertile after having had a child with such prenatal abnormalities.
In addition to all of these claims, Brzezinski makes many other anti-men and anti-Republican statements throughout the course of the segment (click "expand"):
Not to mention, 4 of the 5 Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe were men. Of course.
…
So, let me get this straight. You support sterilization of women by denying them the health care they need. How depraved are you?
…
This and much more is happening right now, in real time, to women across the country. These are real stories, horror stories that Republicans have inflicted on women across the country because of their ant—antiquated, unrealistic, highly judgmental and ill-informed view…
…
You know, you look at the Republican Party—just one final thought here—and it's just inhumane, from so—on so many levels, whether it's pushing an unhealthy gun culture where everyone should have an AK-47, lying to migrants and shipping them off on planes and tricking them and dumping them places, or forcing children who were raped to—to carry babies to term. They are leading a sick, inhumane political party at very best, I mean, especially these governors in these states.
These were just a few of the ludicrous statements that were made in the show that day. For more examples, see the video above and the transcript below.
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Transcript of the segments below (click Expand):
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
06/23/23
9:24:29 AM ET
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's regressive decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, that legalized abortion in the U.S., a dangerous and retrograde move by the conservative court that paved the way for states to radically obstruct abortion access for millions upon millions of American women.
What a difference a year makes. Let's look at what has happened over the past year. Republican-controlled legislatures approved nearly total abortion bans in 14 states. These states are now unsafe for women, especially women of childbearing age.
…
9:26:06 AM
BRZEZINSKI: Not to mention, 4 of the 5 Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe were men. Of course.
…
9:28:14 AM
BRZEZINSKI: You know, when women are in this situation when they're forced to carry abnorm—fetal abnormalities to term, they often can't have children again. A termination in many cases preserves a woman's ability to bear a child again.
So, let me get this straight. You support sterilization of women by denying them the health care they need. How depraved are you?
…
9:29:56 AM
BRZEZINSKI: This and much more is happening right now, in real time, to women across the country. These are real stories, horror stories that Republicans have inflicted on women across the country because of their ant—antiquated, unrealistic, highly judgmental and ill-informed view…
…
9:40:07 AM
ATTORNEY GENERAL ELLEN ROSENBLUM (D-OR): On the subject of mifepristone, I just wanna say, we didn't even know what that word was at the time of Dobbs. And frankly, I'm not so sure the Supreme Court did either. It's critical to have the gold standard, which includes that drug, as well af mis—as misoprostol, we know that those two drugs together make it possible to have early abortions.
And that's what everybody wants, ideally.
…
9:43:37 AM
BRZEZINSKI: This is such a disaster for women and for women’s healthcare.
…
9:44:58 AM
BRZEZINSKI: You know, you look at the Republican Party—just one final thought here—and it's just inhumane, from so—on so many levels, whether it's pushing an unhealthy gun culture where everyone should have an AK-47, lying to migrants and shipping them off on planes and tricking them and dumping them places, or forcing children who were raped to—to carry babies to term. They are leading a sick, inhumane political party at very best, I mean, especially these governors in these states.
