Fox News’ Rachel Campos-Duffy, mother of nine, really hates abortion. So, it wasn’t surprising to see Rachel, on yesterday’s Friends & Friends lovefest, join her husband and SD Gov. Kristi Noem to promote Noem’s proposed Down’s Syndrome diagnosis abortion ban. COVID? What COVID? Everything is great!!!!!
Noem began by summarizing what she plans to cover in her upcoming address to the South Dakota legislature. The only reference to the coronavirus, which has ravaged her state, was the phrase, “the challenging year that we’ve had.” And during the “challenging year,” Noem opposed mask mandates and lockdowns at a time when her state had one of the worst COVID rates in the country. In response to the state’s attempt to delay a trial, due to COVID, a judge excoriated the state for doing next to nothing to contain the pandemic.
In noting how her state is focused on (ahem) “protecting life,” Noem discussed her proposed bill which would ban abortions based on a Down’s Syndrome diagnosis. As she spoke about how “every single life is precious,” Rachel and her husband, former GOP US Rep. Sean Duffy, played with their 9th child who has Down’s Syndrome. Noem added that Down’s Syndrome children, like Valentina Duffy, are “blessings” and that the Duffys will be speaking to the legislature about the proposed law.
Campos-Duffy said that she was very proud of Noem who is “a mom governor.” Working in the perfunctory Fox & Friends GOP talking points, she claimed that in this time when “so many people are being censored,” Noem “is giving a voice to a group of people, who don’t have a voice, who don’t have a lobby, who don’t have anyone to fight for them…” – a ridiculous assertion given the money and power of the “Right to Life” lobby as well as the Catholic Church.
Campos-Duffy, spoke to women facing a Down’s diagnosis about the joy that this child has brought to her life and that as an American, “she has a right to live.” Sean Duffy added that other parents of Down’s children told them that having a Down’s child is “the greatest experience you’ll ever have.” (Unlike poor women, the Duffy’s have the money to provide the necessary resources for this child, but nobody mentioned that.)
In validating the anti-mask adherents, Noem interjected commentary on the “great” state of the South Dakota economy because there were no shut-downs and that the “people are happy because we let them use personal responsibility to get through the pandemic.” She segued back to abortion with the comment that she’s about “giving every single person the opportunity to live … and to be a part of the story of America.”
Cohost Ainsley Earhardt validated the Trump and the right wing’s belief that COVID shut-downs were unnecessary by mentioning that Noem received great praise for her non-shut-down strategy.
In response to the question of the current state of COVID in South Dakota, Noem avoided numbers. She merely said that a “very different conversation” was being had and went on to talk about the awesomeness of the South Dakota economy because “we are blessed.” She said that “what we believe as conservatives works.”
Sean Duffy further validated the anti-mask position as he effused over how wonderful it was to have dinner at a South Dakota restaurant where diners didn’t have to wear a mask. He ended with the propaganda pièce de résistance, “This is what freedom looks like in South Dakota."
So while it’s nice to showcase how Down’s Syndrome children can be a source of joy, there was no mention of the different levels of severity or the host of physical problems which Down’s children could encounter. Rather, little Valentina (very cute) was used as a prop to push a GOP governor’s proposed anti-abortion law which might not pass a constitutional test.
Even worse, Noem’s claim to support “life” seems dubious when, “according to Becker's Hospital Review, South Dakota has the seventh highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the nation, trailing only North Dakota and states in the densely populated northeast United States that bore the first wave of the illness in the U.S.” The positivity rate is 32.8% and the number of active cases is 5,102. Almost 6,000 people have been hospitalized.
So if Kristi Noem gets her way, South Dakota women will be forced to carry a Down’s child to term; but folks who might have COVID don’t need to wear a mask. Guess that’s just “freedom” for ya!!
You can watch the “pro-life” hypocrisy below, from the January 12, 2021 Fox & Friends.