On Sunday's Disrupt show on MSNBC, host Karen Finney wondered by Texas Republicans are "trying to harm the health of women in the state" by passing laws against abortion instead of dealing with other issues, as she hosted Texas Democratic State Senator Leticia van de Putte to discuss fellow State Senator Wendy Davis's filibuster in support of abortion.
Later in the show, as she hosted Dr. Rani Whitfield of the Association of Free and Charitable Clinics for a discussion of Republican governors resisting the ObamaCare expansion of Medicaid in their states, the MSNBC host charged that the Republican party's "ideology is basically endangering the health of their citizens."
Finney introduced the fight over abortion in Texas by playing up the "war on women" mantra: "All right, we've got a showdown in Texas over women's health, and this is the latest front in the war on women that's going on across our country."
After bringing aboard State Senator van de Putte, the MSNBC host listed a number of statistics on issues ranging from education to infrastructure in Texas, and asked: "Why is it that the conservatives in the state legislature aren't spending their time and their energy and their passion on those things and instead trying to harm the health of women in the state?"
Later in the show, as she discussed Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal's opposition to Medicaid expansion with Dr. Whitfield, Finney queried: "What do you say to Governor Jindal and others who are saying, you know, on the one hand, they're rejecting the Medicaid expansion, on the other hand, they, you know, that ideology is basically endangering the health of their citizens?"
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Sunday, June 30, Disrupt on MSNBC:
KAREN FINNEY: All right, we've got a showdown in Texas over women's health, and this is the latest front in the war on women that's going on across our country. Tomorrow at 2 p.m., Governor Rick Perry will try once again to pass his anti-choice Senate Bill 5 back into law. He's brought lawmakers back for yet another special session. Now, this all comes on the heels -- or should I say running shoes -- of the nearly 11-hour filibuster by State Senator Wendy Davis that not only halted Perry's initial efforts but energized supporters of women's rights around the country.
(...)
Senator, you know, we've seen this kind of behavior not just in Texas, in lots of states where the time is being spent on these kinds of things instead of education where Texas ranks 49th in spending per student and 44th in public high school graduation rates? Or unemployment in Texas which is at 6.5 percent. And in terms of infrastructure, 38 percent of Texas roads are considered to be in poor condition. And 8,680 bridges in Texas are considered functionally obsolete.
Why is it that the conservatives in the state legislature aren't spending their time and their energy and their passion on those things and instead trying to harm the health of women in the state?
(STATE SENATOR LETICIA VAN DE PUTTE (D-TX))
(...)
What do you say to Governor Jindal and others who are saying, you know, on the one hand, they're rejecting the Medicaid expansion, on the other hand, they, you know, that ideology is basically endangering the health of their citizens?
(DR. RANI WHITFIELD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FREE AND CHARITABLE CLINICS)
-- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center