Amid the abortion debate, Democratic state-level executives say they have become more active than the U.S. Congress.
Now some state executives have been slamming federal officials for their inaction… and the federal officials have hit back, grabbing headlines across the country.
“Where is the Democratic Party? Where’s the party? Why aren’t we calling this out? This is a concerted, coordinated effort,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said in a video aired on Face the Nation. “And yes. They’re winning. We need to stand up. Where’s the counter-offensive?”
Some national figures appeared confused by Newsom’s remark. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, went on CBS News to discuss abortion.
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CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan asked, “Madam speaker, why were pro-abortion rights Democrats out-maneuvered?”
“I have no idea,” Pelosi responded. “I have no idea why anybody would make that statement unless they were unaware of the fight that has been going on.”
For the rest of the interview, she pivoted to blaming conservatives for Congress’s inaction.
The fact is that we have been fighting for a woman’s right to choose, and that is to choose. We have been fighting against the Republicans in the congress constantly because the fact is that they’re not just anti- a woman’s right to choose in terms of terminating a pregnancy, but also in terms of contraception and family planning and the rest, both domestically and globally. This is a constant fight that we’ve had for generations, decades, in my case, in the Congress. It had been bipartisan early on, support for a woman’s right to choose, until the politics had changed. And that’s what happened at the court… The court changed, and they’re deciding that will be different.
However, Brennan pushed back on Pelosi’s attempts to blame Republicans for Congress’s sclerosis.
“Back when Democrats held majorities in the House and the Senate, 2009, when you were speaker, President Obama was asked about codifying Roe v. Wade,” Brennan explained. “Do you think it was a mistake for him, for other presidents not to push harder when Democrats had the majority?”
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Yet Pelosi still somehow found a way to blame conservatives.
“The focus we have right now is an urgent one,” Pelosi said. “The fact is, in ’09, we really did not have a pro-choice Democratic Party. I had to fight against some of the people who did not want to pass the Affordable Care Act because they were concerned that it might enable more freedom of choice.”
Pelosi was presumably referring to former Sen. Brad Nelson, D-Neb., who reportedly held long negotiations with Obama over the health law’s provisions on abortion.
The speaker went on to hype up last year’s Women’s Health Protection Act, despite its failure to advance in the Senate.
“Right now, we do have a pro-choice Democratic Congress, and we [in the House] passed the law months ago,” Pelosi said. “You’ll have to talk to the Senate about the Senate.”
She went on to hammer the urgency of this issue. Pelosi said.
“I do think the [Women’s Health Protection Act] puts an urgency on what’s happening in the election. One or two more senators could sweep back the filibuster rule for this purpose, and then women wouldn’t have the right to choose,” Pelosi said.
“[Roe v. Wade] is about respect for privacy. What’s next? Marriage equality? What’s next? Contraception?”
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Brennan followed up, “Do you need to write bills to enshrine those things [like] birth control access?… Do you need to legislate to enshrine those in law right now, to protect them, if you think the court may overturn?”
Pelosi continued to blame Republican obstruction.
“For decades, I’ve been saying to my Republican friends and women who care about a woman’s right to choose who contribute to Planned Parenthood and all those organizations,” Pelosi said. “You can’t do that and expect — You’ve got to weigh in with your own party on this. Barbara Bush, early on, the Republicans were very much about family planning.”
In other words, Nancy Pelosi dismisses criticism from officials in her own party, but she expects some Republicans to hold other Republicans’ feet to the fire.
Plus, some Republicans have shown interest in a bipartisan statute on abortion. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska introduced a pro-choice bill, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer appears poised to vote on his own, more divisive bill instead.
Brennan asked about Schumer’s reluctance to vote on the two Republicans’ bill. She said, “When you do have Republicans interested in working together, is that a strategic mistake? You say this is an emergency.”
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“It depends on what the legislation is — and what impact is has on women’s lives,” Pelosi responded curtly. “The enshrinement of Roe v. Wade into the law is the way in order to protect a woman’s right to choose. I don’t know why they say they’re for that and can’t be for this legislation.”
In other words, Pelosi is dismissing criticism from Newsom, demanding for Republicans to take a stance for abortion, and then dismissing those Republicans’ stances. She’s applying a double standard.
Watch the video here —