The liberal women on The View, Wednesday, shrieked at the "totalitarian" decision by a Texas judge [1]
to uphold a law requiring women to look at an ultrasound before having
an abortion. Co-host and journalist Barbara Walters found the legal
ruling– and not the act of abortion itself-- to be "heartbreaking." [See
video below. See MP3 audio here [2].]
Regarding the ruling, left-wing comedienne Joy Behar spewed, "It's very totalitarian in my opinion. I
mean, it smacks of forcing somebody to confront something that they
have already decided they don't want to deal with." Rather than focus on
the actual abortion, Walters lectured, "Then to have to go and
be forced to hear, to see the fetus, to hear the heartbeat, to put more
guilt on you, I think is heartbreaking."
Walters continued, declaring that the decision to "give up a child that
is obviously unwanted... is such a tremendous decision, it's involved
with so much fear of what you're doing and guilt."
It was left up to token conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck to make some
obvious points, noting that if you were going to have "a cyst removed or
tooth extracted...you would never go through any medical procedure
without looking at an ultrasound, seeing an X-ray."
As for Behar's definition of "totalitarianism," she's apparently
unaware that in many communist and actual dictitorial countries, women
are forced to get abortions.
A transcript of the February 8 segment, which aired at 11:13, follows:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Now, there are lots of headlines right now about battles over birth control and abortion rights. A federal judge in Texas has is upholding a law that provides abortion providers to show or describe to women an ultrasound of the fetus before he can have an abortion.
BARBARA WALTERS: And the heartbeat.
JOY BEHAR: It's very totalitarian in my opinion. I mean, it smacks of forcing somebody to confront something that they have already decided they don't want to deal with.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Can I ask you a question, though? Because I'm going to take my personal feelings about abortion out of this, but from a medical perspective- and I'll ask this of anyone- you wouldn't necessarily go in to get, I don't know, say, a cyst removed or tooth extracted or a kidney that had to be, you know, examined and have surgery on, you would never go through any medical procedure without looking at an ultrasound, seeing an X-ray and the physician by no means want to do that procedure, go ahead with it without looking at the scientific evidence.
BEHAR: Doesn't the doctor look at it though?
HASSELBECK: Hang on, as a patient I would just want information. To me, it doesn't make sense why you wouldn't- why you would ask for an X-ray for those things or an ultrasound but not in this case.
WALTERS: Let me try to answer you. First of all, it is interesting in every primary the subject of abortion comes up and it is always so controversial and so divisive and yet in the actual election, it plays a very small part. I always find that fascinating. It's always an issue, but people, with it all, do not vote for the president on that issue. I think that in order to even think about having an abortion, to give up a child that is obviously unwanted, that's why you're doing it, it is such a tremendous decision, it's involved with so much fear of what you're doing and guilt.
HASSELBECK: But if that-
WALTERS: Wait! Then to have to go and be forced to hear, to see the fetus, to hear the heartbeat, to put more guilt on you, I think is heartbreaking.