(Video: CNS News)
Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom called out his own party for being soft on the abortion issue and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not take the criticism well.
The California lawmakers weighed in on the party’s pro-choice fight, or lack thereof, days after a Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked and showed the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
“Where is the Democratic Party?” Newsom said last week, speaking at Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles. “Why aren’t we calling this out? This is a concerted, coordinated effort, and, yes they’re winning. We need to stand up. Where’s the counter-offensive?”
But Pelosi fired back, calling out anyone who is “unaware” of the fight Democrats like herself have been waging in Congress for “decades.”
“We have been fighting against the Republicans in the Congress constantly,” the California Democrat said on “Face the Nation” Sunday.
“Because the fact is they’re not just anti a woman’s right to choose in terms of terminating a pregnancy, but in terms of access to contraception and family planning and the rest, both domestically and globally,” Pelosi said in the Mother’s Day interview.
“This is a constant fight that we’ve had for generations – decades, I should say, in my case, in the Congress,” she continued.
“Where the hell is my party? Where’s the Democratic Party?”
@GavinNewsom blasts Dems for not targeting Republicans more aggressively over their push to restrict abortion rights
“This is a concerted, coordinated effort and yes, they’re winning…where’s the counter-offensive?” pic.twitter.com/AneTjKjPAR
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) May 5, 2022
“We had been bipartisan early on, support for a woman’s right to choose, until the politics have changed, and that’s what happened to the court,” the Democrat leader said. “The science hasn’t changed, but the court changed, and therefore they’re deciding that it will be different.
“I have no idea why anybody would make that statement unless they were unaware of the fight that has been going on,” she added, responding to host Margaret Brennan’s question on Newsom’s comments.
Brennan cornered Pelosi on the apparent discrepancy.
“Well, you have been fighting for decades on this issue. But back when Democrats held majorities in the House and the Senate 2009, when you were Speaker, President Obama was asked about codifying Roe versus Wade and said abortion is a moral and ethical issue and, quote, not the highest legislative priority,” she said. “Do you think it was a mistake for him, for other presidents, not to push harder when Democrats had the majority?”
The House speaker seemed to deflect momentarily before claiming that Democrats during Obama’s reign were not so “pro-choice.”
“If I just may, the focus we have right now is an urgent one in order to try to improve- and try to improve this whether we’re calling it fake or draft decision, whatever it is, I think that this is a waste of time,” she 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. It really didn’t go down that path. Right now, we do have a pro-choice Democratic Congress,” Pelosi continued, going on to raise the alarm with the predictable Democrat talking points on the issue.
“This is about something so serious and so personal and so disrespectful of women. Here we are on Mother’s Day, a week where the court has slapped women in the face in terms of disrespect for their judgments about the size and timing of their families,” she said. “Let’s just be prayerful about this. This is- this is about respect for privacy. What’s next? What’s next? Marriage equality? What’s next, contraception?”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
- ‘Creepy’ woman rolls dead man into bank to co-sign loan: ‘He doesn’t look well. He’s very pale’ - April 17, 2024
- Protestors storm stage, interrupt NYC Mayor Adams: ‘We need a new mayor!’ - April 17, 2024
- DeSantis: ‘There are more communists on Harvard faculty than in all of Eastern Europe’ - April 17, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.