When Bill O'Reilly said, during a discussion about a Canadian abortion case, "and that's why we fight so hard here for the rights of the unborn," we don't know if he was speaking, in the royal "we" about himself, if he was talking about Fox News, or both. While he sees this as "fighting for" the "unborn," the reality is that both O'Reilly and Fox News, in advancing pro-life propaganda, do not fight for the rights of women to control their reproductive organs. Rather, they provide a mouthpiece for those who, in seeking to abolish women's rights to their bodies, would take us back to the pre-Roe days of back alley abortions and unwanted children born to women who had no other options. This group is having a hissy fit about a PSA, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Roe, put out by a reproductive rights group. Not surprisingly, the gang on "The Five" joined the pro-life pity party.

The ad in question is a PSA done by the Center for Reproductive Rights. It is one of several that feature Hollywood personalities. The ads encourage viewers to go to the Center's website and sign a petition regarding reproductive freedom, to be sent to politicians. This ad features the actor, Mehcad Brooks, in the persona of a man who is celebrating an anniversary which we learn is the 40th anniversary of Roe V Wade

While the ad was, I think, meant to be a clever satire, it has offended legions of pro-lifers due to Mehcad's smooth and seductive delivery. (To me, it smacks of the SNL "Ladies' Man skit). That Brooks is African-American only adds to the controversy because of histrionic concerns, on the part of the anti-choice zealots, that minority women who have abortions are being seduced by Planned Parenthood into committing genocide - a meme that's truly offensive as it posits that minority women can't make reproductive decisions because they're too stupid or too child-like. The other thing is that the same crew that shout "genocide" are the ones who complain about "welfare babies" and who don't want to provide a safety net after the babies are born.

"The Five" weighed in on the issue last night. And while some of the concerns were legitimate, the anti-choice messages were clear. The unmarried and childless Andrea Tantataros, who hates Planned Parenthood, made a legitimate point: "I don’t even think a woman who is pro-choice, who had an abortion or who’s thinking about one would look at that ad and say yeah, it’s something to celebrate. I’m going to have a drink and think back on the day that I did it." The married and childless Dana Perino said it was "chilling" and "appalling."

The married and childless (And he's Catholic!!) Greg Gutfeld, who thinks that women who have abortion are "morally inept," opined that the ad showed a "cavalier attitude towards abortion." In yet another bizarre and misogynistic anti-choice comment, he engaged in standard pro-life personification of fetuses. (Like the Planned Parenthood "sidewalk counselors" who yell "mommy, mommy, don't kill me at women getting abortions). He "joked" that “If they had guts they would have said a child saying ‘Hi, Mom, I would have respected your right to abort me.’ But they never would have done that." (BTW, whassup with Gutfeld wearing his wedding ring on his third finger of the left hand?) Even Bob Beckel was disgusted by the ad.

So the entire segment was devoted to trashing the presentation of the ad. Meanwhile, there was no discussion about the message of the ad which was about the anniversary of Roe. Nobody said anything about the horrors of pre-Roe days when women of means and connections could access safe abortions via a legal "D & C" while poor women died in back alley or self induced abortions. If the group that produced the spot were trying to get attention for the ad, they were quite successful given that "The Five" didn't waste any time in engaging in their usual idiocies.  If anything is "appalling," it's "The Five!"