The Thursday evening CNN Newsroom Victor Blackwell invited Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood to discuss the “war” on abortion access. Johnson responded by citing Martin Luther King Jr. in order to support the morality behind abortion.
Blackwell teed up Johnson by reading from Judge Robert Pitman’s Wednesday ruling that halted enforcement of Texas’ pro-life law, “‘That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide. This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.'”
Blackwell was concerned that Pitman’s ruling might be fool’s gold for people like Johnson, “This now goes to, and we know, the attorney general there says that the state will appeal, it goes to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one of, if not the most conservative courts of appeal in the country. Abortion providers have won this battle. How do you view the war?
CNN would tell any pro-lifer that the debate over abortion is “war”, and they’d be warned about how dangerous their rhetoric encourages violence. Instead, Blackwell’s framing allowed Johnson to portray herself as fighting some sort of righteous holy war, “Look, I mean, I think as I, as I quoted at the rally this weekend, you know, like Dr. King, the arc is long but it bends towards justice, and we are seeking abortion justice. We are — will be continuing to fight. It is not over.
After comparing abortion access to desegregation, Johnson added, “There’s no state in the union where banning abortion is popular and so we will be using all of our levers. We will be fighting in the courts. We will be fighting on the ground. And we will be ensuring that all of lawmakers understand the impact that this decision will be having on their, on their citizens.”
The arc of justice seems to be moving in the opposite direction from abortion, if anything. Roe V. Wade are not nearly as popular as Johnson and her media allies think they are.
Liberty Mutual sponsored the segment.
Below is the transcript from October 7th’s show.
CNN
CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerona and Victor Blackwell
2:48 PM ET
VICTOR BLACKWELL: Well, you and he, Judge Pitman, I’m speaking of, acknowledge that this fight is not over. Let me read a little more from this ruling, “That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide. This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.” This now goes to, and we know, the attorney general there says that the state will appeal, it goes to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one of, if not the most conservative courts of appeal in the country. Abortion providers have won this battle. How do you view the conflict?
ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON: Look, I mean, I think as I, as I quoted at the rally this weekend, you know, like Dr. King, the arc is long but it bends towards justice, and we are seeking abortion justice. We are — will be continuing to fight. We are not finished with the war. Last night’s order was very clear about the devastating impact of patients and we’re going to continue to fight not only in Texas but in all of these other states that think they can put these copycat laws into place. There’s no state in the union where banning abortion is popular and so we will be using all of our levers. We will be fighting in the courts. We will be fighting on the ground. And we will be ensuring that all of lawmakers understand the impact that this decision will be having on their, on their citizens.
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