Bill O'Reilly is unabashedly anti-abortion. So much so that his media jihad against the murdered abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller earned him a "Courage Award" from the hate group, the Family Research Council. Bill is on a mission from God to, as he says, "fight for the unborn." (Course, once born, you're on your own!). But on last night's Factor, he supported a woman's right to choose which, in this case, involves a Texas 16 year old who, despite her parent's alleged pressure on her to have an abortion, wants to have her baby - a decision supported by a Texas judge - a decision applauded by O'Reilly who doesn't think anybody should be forced to have an abortion. But wait, isn't Bill O'Reilly a strong supporter of parental notification laws regarding abortion - laws that in the case of parents who don't give permission, would "force" a girl to have a baby?
The discussion about the Texas case was the last topic of Bill's "Is it Legal" segment. The issue had been discussed on America's Newsroom during which moderator Martha MacCallum and attorney Lis Wiehl took the side of the pregnant teen who, at that time, was in the process of filing suit against her parents. She claimed that they were trying to coerce her into having an abortion which she was vehemently opposed to. The case was recently resolved when the parents, during a court appearance, agreed to stop pressuring their daughter to have an abortion.
After Bill reported the backstory, Lis Wiehl said that the court decided that "choice works both ways." Kimberly Guilfoyle said "that's the law." O'Reilly repeated "choice goes both ways, very well put." After some more discussion of the situation, O'Reilly said that he was "glad that nobody is being forced to have an abortion."
What the gang didn't mention is that in Texas choice only works both ways with a caveat for teens who want an abortion. These girls must have parental permission to have an abortion. If that isn't obtained, they can appeal to the court. That process involves a mandatory sonogram and counseling. And while Bill is happy that a teen, according to the court, has the right to bring a pregnancy to term, he isn't as happy about those states which give girls the right to not bring a pregnancy to term. In fact, he once compared the opponents of parental notification laws to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. In November of 2012, he said that the evil slackers who voted for Obama also want "unfettered abortion with no parental notification."
So it would seem that while O'Reilly applauds choice for teens who want to have a baby, he feels very differently for those who want an abortion. And if O'Reilly gets his way and abortion is criminalized or made more difficult to access, women will be forced to go through with a pregnancy.
So does Bill O'Reilly support reproductive choice? Not so much!
Video here.
