The pro-baby killing “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC were on the case Wednesday morning as they bemoaned the North Carolina legislature overriding Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of a 12-week limit on abortions. Naturally, there were omissions, such as how the bill promotes adoption and exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother, and even abnormalities.
And, speaking of mothers, ABC’s Good Morning America went full transgender, explaining what the law would mean for a “pregnant person.”
ABC had two segments on the Tar Heel state. Co-host George Stephanopoulos had the same tease for both: “Breaking overnight. A purple swing state imposes new limits on abortion.”
Correspondent Faith Abubey had the reports. In the first, she fretted this was “[a] major blow to abortion rights advocates in North Carolina” with “new restrictions on abortion.”
Abubey had the courtesy to mention the name of the bill, Care for Women, Children, and Families Act, and said it was only “generally” an abortion limit of 12 weeks because of exceptions, which included the usual examples of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
Abubey, however, showed she doesn’t want to accept basic biology:
For example, in cases of rape or incest, a person will have up to 20 weeks for an abortion and, for fetal anomalies, up to 24 weeks. Abortions are also allowed where the pregnant person’s life might be in danger.
She added another exception (with “other available options” including adoption): “The rules require people seeking care to have in-person consultations outlining potential risks and other available options to them before they get an abortion.”
In the second hour, Abubey boasted of the “loud boos and chants in the North Carolina capitol overnight” and, yet again, the “pregnant person’s life” line. She further mucked up her grasp of grade school biology by saying one other provision “requires the father of the fetus to help raise the child even if that father offered to pay for the abortion.”
So, the person who gives birth is a “pregnant person,” but the other person is the baby’s…father?
NBC’s Today had only some explanation. Co-host Savannah Guthrie hyped in a tease: “Breaking overnight, the battle over abortion heating up again. North Carolina banning most abortions after 12 weeks.”
Correspondent Stephanie Gosk was forlorn (click “expand”):
GOSK: You know, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, North Carolina has been considered a safe haven by some women seeking an abortion in the south. But now, the landscape is shifting for them yet again with new obstacles making it more difficult to get the procedure.
PROTESTERS: Shame! Shame! Shame!
GOSK: Overnight, U.S. abortion access facing another major shift as one of the remaining southern states to allow abortions tightened restrictions.
PROTESTERS: Shame! Shame! Shame!
GOSK: Late protests in the North Carolina capital after the state banned the procedure after 12 weeks.
PROTESTERS: Shame! Shame! Shame!
GOSK: The Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed the new ban and went on the road trying to persuade others to join his side but a united Republican party voted to override him.
After the lone soundbite of a supporter, Gosk tucked in one inconvenient fact for the abortion crowd:
Supporters say the bill is a compromise since, according to the CDC, 90 percent of abortions occur before 20 weeks, and it allows for cases of race, incest, and health of the mother, but it includes more restrictions like mandated doctor visits and more regulations for clinics
CBS Mornings dispensed with even cursory details other than a 12-week limit and instead was all about the hyperventilating.
Co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King led off the show with North Carolina: “There’s been a dramatic shift in the laws on abortion affecting millions of women in this country. In North Carolina, abortion rights supporters protested last night’s vote by Republican lawmakers to override the governor’s veto and establish a 12-week limit on abortions.”
Correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns framed everything as a loss for baby-killing and had nothing about the facts of the bill:
Well, North Carolina had been one of the few remaining states in the south with access to abortion. Now, it joins 19 other states that have either banned or restricted the procedure. And to get it done, Republicans here pushed the measure through in just 42 hours.
After whining the GOP overrode Cooper’s veto in just three days, she further griped Cooper’s “power is limited” thanks to a GOP supermajority as a result of “a Democratic state representative from the liberal-leaning Charlotte area switch[ing] parties”.
She didn’t have time for a pro-life view, but she did give a moment to the White House and a flashback to her visit to an abortion clinic in October (click “expand”):
HUEY-BURNS: The White House protested late Tuesday night, saying “women have been…left with no choice but to travel hundreds of miles for the care they need.”
A WOMAN’S CHOICE CEO KELLY FLYNN [in October 2022]: We just helped a patient from Alabama.
HUEY-BURNS: We went to a clinic in Raleigh last October that was already seeing a surge in out-of-state patients.
FLYNN [in October 2022]: They drove a 10.5-hour trip to make sure they were at the clinic at 9:00 that morning.
HUEY-BURNS [in October 2022]: 10.5 hours each way?
FLYNN [in October 2022]: Mmhmm. Each way.
HUEY-BURNS: Now, there are only two states in the south that offer unrestricted — relatively unrestricted access to abortion, that’s Virginia and neighboring South Carolina. But, Gayle, Republicans in South Carolina are working to push through a six-week abortion ban.
Wednesday morning’s network defense of abortion access was made possible thanks to the backing of advertisers such as Aleve (on CBS), Starbucks (on ABC), and Uber (on NBC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from May 17, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).