I am truly stunned and amazed!!! A Fox News host, on a channel that provides a mouthpiece for those who would deny women the right to control their bodies, is vehemently in favor of giving women a choice!!! Oh wait, it's about the right to choose to have a baby. Never mind. But it is rather ironic that Martha MacCallum, who has validated Jonah Goldberg's lies about Planned Parenthood, is "horrified" by Plan B which she equates with abortion, and agreed with a guest's anti-abortion propaganda, is invoking "choice" in supporting a 16 year old who is suing for the right to give birth. Welcome to the bizarro alternate reality of Fox News!
The story is rather sad as it involves what appears to be a family ridden with conflict and perhaps some dysfunction. A pregnant 16 year old Harris County Texas girl is claiming that her parents are trying to force her to have an abortion. Not surprisingly, she is being represented by a pro-life legal advocacy group which has obtained a temporary restraining order to stop her parents from physically forcing her to have an abortion. The girl alleges that her parents are engaging in "verbal abuse" in order to coerce her into having an abortion.
This was the topic for a discussion on today's "America's Newsroom." From the very beginning, it appeared that alleged news host MacCallum had a distinct point of view. In reporting the back story she noted that it is "a very disturbing story." She quoted from the girl's lawsuit in which the parents are negatively portrayed. Attorney Lis Wiehl quoted a court decision that would seem to support the girl. The sidebar cited another accusation that the girl has made against her mother.
In framing a question for the other attorney, MacCallum said that "it seems like you could never force a human being, drag them to a clinic to have an abortion." As more allegations from the girl were shown, civil rights litigator Brian Claypool addressed the issue of family involvement and asked if the girl, a minor, was mentally fit to have a child. MacCallum loudly asked if the parents were "fit to raise these issues" and used statements from the lawsuit to support her point. Wiehl and MacCallum cited more allegations made by the girl as "facts." MacCallum felt that unless the girl was totally incapacitated, it would be "impossible to force anyone to carry this out." She followed this with another quote from the lawsuit.
So rather than support choice, it appears that "fair & balanced" Martha MacCallum is towing the same line as the anti-abortion extremists who are also supporting the girl. But missing from the discussion was the fact that in Texas, as in many other states, minors must have permission from their parents in order to get an abortion. Wonder if Martha would allow these girls the "choice" to terminate a pregnancy. Also missing from the discussion was any talk of how this girl is possibly being exploited, for the pro-life cause, by her attorneys. Martha doesn't seem to be equally appalled at the ongoing erosion of choice by her fellow GOP travelers who are still trying to make abortion difficult, if not impossible, to access. I haven't heard any objection from MacCallum about forcing women, seeking abortions, to look at ultrasounds of their fetus in order to shame them into giving birth. And if MacCallum's Catholic Church and her GOP pals re-criminalize abortion, that's forcing women to give birth - or risk their lives in an illegal procedure.
So does Martha MacCallum support real reproductive choice? I report, you decide!
Hey! Kids iz great! I got my kids to both raise their out-of-wedlock children AND my kids too! It’s win-win!