On Tuesday, the top health official in the Biden administration – HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra – said when it comes to ensuring women have access to abortion, "every option is on the table." Becerra indicated that medical abortions would be a key component in the administration's prioritization of abortion access.
Responding later on "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins," Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) called it desperation on the part of Democrats.
"[Look] at what they're pushing forward now – whether it's chemical abortions, whether it's federally funded tourism abortions, whether it's this crazy idea of setting up abortion clinics on federal lands," he argued. "In fact, one Democratic senator [Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts] suggested that they set up abortion clinics on national parks because they're federal lands that would somehow be exempt from state jurisdiction."
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) yelled out a similar demand at a Union Square protest the evening following the high court's 6-3 decision striking down Roe:
AOC: "There are also actions at President Biden's disposal that he can mobilize. I'll start with the babiest of the babiest of the baby steps: Open abortion clinics on federal lands in red states right now."
Since her remarks last week, Senator Warren has offered details on her plan, contending that "it's time to declare a medical emergency" and set up tents manned by trained personnel.
"This is crazy talk, [but] this is where they're at," Daines stated. "And this is why the fight we have in Washington is only going to intensify."
The Montana Republican said the GOP will fight back with, among other things, the Hyde Amendment, which doesn't allow taxpayer dollars to go toward abortions.
"That ought to put a stop to some of this frankly crazy talk that we're hearing from the Left," he told the radio audience. "But keep in mind, they're going to go to any length possible when they say 'all options are on the table.' We have to be very vigilant and … get our best thinkers, our best offense here as we move forward in protecting life."
Daines went on say that he expects lawsuits and court battles from the Left. "But keep in mind that we've got better judges as a result of President Trump and a Republican Senate."
It ain't so, Sonia
Regarding that 6-3 vote, an abortion researcher tells AFN that one of the dissenting justices needs more schooling on the facts in light of her statement after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The statement in question came from Justice Sonia Sotomayor who wrote that a woman "is 14 times more likely to die by carrying a pregnancy to term than by having an abortion."
Dr. Tara Sander Lee of the Charlotte Lozier Institute tells AFN there's no way that facts support Sotomayor's conclusion.
"The quality of United States maternal mortality data is poor," Lee begins. "Because of that we know that several states don't even report abortion statistics – like California, which has some of the largest numbers when it comes to abortion – and in many of the states which do report abortion, the data is inconsistent."
For the sake of accuracy, Lee contends it's necessary to turn to Scandinavian countries, such as Finland, where accurate stats are kept.
"For example, they find that when you look at these other Scandinavian countries, that there is a much higher risk of death from abortion – sometimes as great as four times greater risk – than death from childbirth," she tells AFN.
"So that statement that Justice Sotomayor made is wrong," Lee emphasizes. "Women are not 14 times more likely to die from pregnancy."
In fact, CLI associate scholar Dr. David Reardon researched 11 studies and found in each instance that the risk of death is greater for a woman having an abortion than carrying a pregnancy to term.
