MSNBC "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Transcript: FitzGerald Speaks Out on Kasich's Attacks on Women's Healthcare

Interview

Melissa Harris-Perry (MHP): Joining us now from Cincinnati is Cuyahoga County Executive and the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, Ed FitzGerald. Hi Mr. FitzGerald, nice to have you this morning.

Ed FitzGerald: Good morning, good to be here.

MHP: So talk to me about why this is happening in Ohio. You know, we showed that map to show how these TRAP laws are having these effects in the Deep South and then suddenly, Ohio. Why?

FitzGerald: Well because we elected the same kind of people in 2010 that were elected in some of those southern states and they didn't run on those issues, they ran on saying they were going bring jobs back but they have slowly but surely, sometimes through legislation, sometimes through administrative actions. So for instance, the head of the Ohio Right to Life was put, by Governor John Kasich, onto the state medical board. So now you really have a situation where people are defying compliance with these laws, are people that are very extreme on these issues and it's coming to Ohio, it's coming to a lot of states. It's not just something that's happening in the Deep South.

MHP: So help folks to understand because as my producers and I were kind of reading through this, I kept saying, this is like the crazy Catch 22. So the state has passed a law that requires abortion providers to get transfer agreements but also made it illegal for publicly funded hospitals to give transfer agreements to providers, do I have that right?

FitzGerald: Right, and so what it means is that then it would have be a private hospital or a hospital that is (inaudible) have a religious affiliation, as you know, which is less likely to grant that. And that's why what you have up in the Toledo area, which is up in the northern part of the state, you have people crossing the border into Michigan. And you're going to have the same thing happen in the Cincinnati area if these things continue to roll along. And all that means that is a woman who is working class or poor is going to have a tougher time traveling to a jurisdiction that hasn't restricted this. And as Nina Turner said, this was never debated. It was put into a budget bill with basically no discussion whatsoever. So this is really kind of blindsiding people here in Ohio.

MHP: So let's talk about the politics of that in particular. So even beyond what one's position might be on the question of the termination of pregnancies. Let's talk about that this happened A. in a budget bill, and as Nina Turner said, like a thief in the night. Should there or will there be political consequences for making such substantial policy changes in that way?

FitzGerald: There should be and we're trying to raise the issue and talk about it. Because they were clever about trying to tuck it in a budget bill, it didn't get the attention that I think that it deserves. To give you an example, there was just a separate piece of legislation that was just introduced called House Bill 351 which would ban insurance companies from providing certain kinds of birth control like IUDs. Now the sponsor of this bill said that an IUD was tantamount to abortion and when he was challenged on that, he said well I'm not a medical doctor. That's exactly the point. He's not a medical doctor. That's why he shouldn't be legislating those things. But at least I give him credit that that is a separate piece of legislation that we can debate and bring attention to, it's not tucked into a budget bill.

MHP: Yeah I appreciate that… we wrote a letter here to that legislator from the MSNBC show about like if you're not a doctor, how about not playing one in the legislature, right?

FitzGerald: Right, right.

MHP: So talk to me a little about this, why honestly, we went back and looked at your record. You have long had a position of supporting reproductive rights access, something that is constitutionally protected. But this could precisely be the issue, clearly your opponent Mr. Kasich said this is not a problem for his reelection, he said as much. Why make this something you're right out in front on?

FitzGerald: Well because we hear it from constituents. One of the things a candidate has a responsibility to do if you're hearing from voters on a certain issue, you have, I think, a responsibility to respond to it. And when we travel the state and talk to voters, women bring this up to us. All the time. I mean we haven't even gone over everything that they've done. Not everybody knows this but they actually passed a law that restricts rape-crisis counselors from giving any information regarding all the healthcare options to a woman who has been a victim of sexual assault. So when we're talking to voters and they're saying listen, something's got to be done about this, we have a responsibility to speak up about it.

MHP: I so appreciate that because it is. It's kind of a monstrous bill in terms of what it does, giving ten of money to organizations that are rape crisis centers, forcing ultrasounds, it really is an extensive bill and I appreciate you bringing some light to it.

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