CNN Host Rolls Out Red Carpet for Abortion Clinic Owner to Strike a Moral Pose

CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield

April 16, 2022

11:41 a.m.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A wave of new anti-abortion laws hitting four states this week. Florida is the latest after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that bans the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That’s without any exemptions for rape or incest. CNN’s Nadia Romero is here with more on all this. Nadia?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, I mean, we look at all of these states that are following this trend, and  really sparked with two states — Texas and Mississippi — Mississippi back in 2018 that passed their 15-week abortion ban. Now, that case is before the Supreme Court. Then, it was Texas back in September with their six-week abortion ban that many called a “heartbeat bill,” and that went into effect in September. Since then, Republican-led — controlled legislatures all over the country have been passing these restrictive abortion bans. And we saw Florida and Oklahoma adding themselves to that growing list just this week.

ROMERO (pre-recorded): Using their voices and risking their freedoms, (clip of protesters) Kate Danehy-Samitz and Sarah Parker lead Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida — a nonprofit organized to defend reproductive freedoms:

CLIP OF AD: We have to speak up.

ROMERO: The group helped raise awareness when the Manatee County Board of Commissioners discussed the possibility of introducing an abortion ban.

SARAH PARKER, WOMEN’S VOICES OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: I had to sit down, and I cried. We had put so many hours and so much time in that, and we won something.

ROMERO: But their message was not loud enough to drown out the will of Florida’s legislature and the governor.

PARKER: It makes me angry, and it makes me sad, and it makes me worried. It feels like we’re going backwards.

ROMERO: This week, Governor Ron DeSantis signing a 15-week abortion ban into law without exemptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking.

GOVERNOR RON DeSANTIS (R-FL): This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation.

ROMERO: Two days before DeSantis, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that makes performing an abortion a felony except in the case of a medical emergency.

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT (R-OK): We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma.

ROMERO: And also this week, Kentucky’s GOP-led legislature overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. So far, 18 states have introduced legislation banning or limiting access to most abortions – 14 states have passed their restrictive legislation. Three states so far this year — Kentucky, Florida and Arizona — following a 2018 Mississippi law prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Now, some Democratic-controlled legislatures aim to protect the rights of Roe v. Wade with new bills of their own. Maryland lawmakers expanding access to abortion.

ADRIENNE JONES, MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES SPEAKER: We are preparing for some of the most restrictive abortion actions that we’ve seen in a generation.

ROMERO: And Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer filing a lawsuit to challenge the state’s almost 100-year-old abortion ban. even though it’s unenforceable due to Roe v. Wade.

GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): We’ve got to take this current assault on women’s rights seriously and use every tool we have to fight back. This is not just a theoretical risk — this is a real and present danger.

ROMERO: With many states re-writing their abortion laws, all eyes point to the Supreme Court. The court heard arguments on the Mississippi law back in December. Legal experts argue a decision could be handed down in June right before summer break with pro-abortion activists continuing their fight to the highest court in the land.

PARKER: Maybe they will come back and say — stand behind Roe versus Wade. I hope that they do, and I want to believe so.

ROMERO: So Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also signed another bill into law that provides aid for mentorship and educational programs for fathers in Florida. It also comes with $70 million for use in family support services, but really, Fred, that’s a sidebar to this 15-week abortion ban that the governor signed. And we’re seeing legal contesting all across the country with different groups like the ACLU battling against these legislatures as they push forward with these abortion bans.

WHITFIELD: Well, all right, thank you so much — I really appreciate that. We’re going to talk about this even further. For more on these abortion laws, I want to bring in Amy Hagstrom Miller. She is the CEO of Whole Women’s [sic] Health, which has abortion clinics nationwide. Amy, good to see you. So your reaction to these new laws?

AMY HAGSTROM MILLER, WHOLE WOMAN’S HEALTH: You know, unfortunately, I’m not surprised. I think we’ve seen this turn across the country when the status of the Supreme Court changed. It’s sad to see this because these values and these laws do not represent the feelings and beliefs of the majority of people in this country.

Most people support access to safe abortion to be local in their communities. All of us knows somebody and loves somebody who’s needed an abortion at some point in their lives. And our loved ones deserve respect and compassion. They don’t deserve to be forced to travel and sort of navigate the stigma-ridden, shame-filled abortion restrictions.

WHITFIELD: So then how is your clinic helping people navigate the confusion that comes with some of these laws?

MILLER: Sure. So you’re absolutely right that these laws are designed to confuse people, to scare people, to delay their access. These laws don’t do anything to prevent the need for abortion or to support people to plan their families. They just ban abortion and force people to travel. At Whole Woman’s Health, we have clinics in what are considered haven states. And we also have clinics in places like Texas and Indiana. And so we have already been helping people travel from Texas to other places in the country where they can get access to safe abortion.

Keep in mind that the travel is actually more dangerous than the abortion itself.  Abortion is very safe, and it should be available locally in people’s communities. And people shouldn’t have to travel hundreds of miles and wait, you know, four to six weeks to have a procedure that is mainstream medicine and that almost, you know, 40 percent of people will need at some point in their lifetime. This isn’t an extreme issue. This is directly connected to the status of women and the health and safety of our families.

WHITFIELD: So, as you mentioned, from Texas to Indiana, what are the populations that are most impacted by these restrictions?

MILLER: Yes, thank you for asking that because these restrictions have much more impact on young people, on people of color, on people who don’t have health insurance, and who don’t have the means to travel to get the abortion that they need. Texas is already one of the lowest in maternal mortality outcomes even before these restrictions on abortion. Texas also has very few people with health insurance. And these impacts really effect those communities much more profoundly, and I think we’re seeing a division in this country both between the haven states and the restricted states. But we’re also seeing divisions in people’s access to health care generally in their communities.

And abortion has directly linked to…