Meet the Press - April 16, 2023
Interview
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It's a delight to join you.
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Well, who knows how long that will take, but I'm certainly glad for the five days. But look, what we have in Texas is a judge who is not guided by science, but is part of an extreme Republican concerted effort to ban abortion nationwide. And we do not need judges, politicians or government telling women about what sort of health care they can have. It is an issue that is not only playing out in the court in Texas, but in the state of Florida, with the governor signing a near six-week ban, Idaho forbidding travel out of state for minors, Wisconsin where we've gone back to literally 1849. That is the date our criminal abortion ban was passed and that's 174 years ago. We are fighting back.
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Yeah. So we don't know what the ruling is going to be. We know that this is a drug that was proven safe and effective back in 2000. We know there have been further FDA regulations and that the drug has been made available now in a recent ruling over the counter. And I don't think that there should be second guessing of the scientific-based process the FDA goes. It has such repercussions beyond the drug mifepristone to -- you know, we want to be able to rely on a science-driven process that the FDA has.
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Yeah. So the Women's Health Protection Act codifies Roe v. Wade, but it takes the additional step to tell states that they can't pass laws that unduly limit access to that right. In Wisconsin, you, you talk about the 1980s law, but there have been laws passed in the '90s, and frankly, quite recently, that further restrict a woman's access to full reproductive healthcare, whether those are waiting periods, mandatory counseling, invasive ultrasounds. These are the types of state interference that the Women's Health Protection Act, Act would eliminate.
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I certainly would look at that. But here is what the bill does. The bill talks about pre-viability and viability and relies on medical expertise because that time may change, as medicine advances. So we recognize that from the get-go and I think that's the appropriate way to do it. But I do want to get this measure passed.
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Well, I'm not --
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I'm not going to negotiate.
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Certainly, it's worth looking at. But I think the way to go is to have medical science establish what's pre-viable and what's post-viability. And that's what the bill does.
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That's right.
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Well, I think Joe Biden will carry Wisconsin. Obviously, we don't know who the Republican nominee will be. But despite Republican national efforts to put the spotlight on Wisconsin by hosting their convention there and having the first Republican primary debate in Wisconsin, I think we will prevail. And I think you can look at last week's momentum in our state Supreme Court race. What people said, resoundingly, is, "We want our rights and freedoms back and we're willing to work hard, go to the polls and win elections in order to do that." That will not diminish in 2024 and if any Republican thinks that voters have simmered down on the abortion issue, they are wrong. It's going to -- that is going to continue well into the next presidential race.
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Well, I certainly wish Sen. Feinstein well and I'm pleased that she has made the decision to have a fill-in on her seat on the Judiciary Committee. I think that is really an important and responsible thing to do during her absence because we have President Biden's nominees waiting for hearings and votes and we want to keep that moving. But I wish her well and hope she returns to the Senate very soon.
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Look, it's up to Dianne Feinstein and her family to decide whether she wants to keep on serving and she's had a remarkable record and I respect that.
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Thank you so much.
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