CNN political commentator and former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin said Wednesday on “Newsroom” that the Republicans’ “very extreme” position on abortion will backfire in the midterm elections.
Anchor Alisyn Camerota said, “I want to play for all of you, a really interesting moment from a South Carolina Republican, a lawmaker who has had what sounds like a change of heart about his vote for a very restrictive law in South Carolina because his eyes have been opened to what this means for women. He heard the story of a young woman, 19 years old, who was having a miscarriage, and the doctors at the health clinic could not treat her because of this new law and told her that she was going to have to go home and suffer on her own. Here’s his thoughts today.”
State Rep. Neal Collins said, “The doctor told me at that point there’s a 50% chance, well, first, she’s going to pass this fetus in the toilet. She’s going to have to deal with that on her own. There’s a 50% chance, greater than 50% chance, that she’s going to lose her uterus. There’s a 10% chance that she will develop sepsis and herself die. That weighs on me. I voted for that bill. These are affecting people.”
Camerota said, “I mean, what do you think about his sort of candor, number one, and if that will somehow pay off and the fact that now this is coming home to roost and they’re actually understanding that this can hurt women?”
Farah Griffin said, “Well, it’s a gutting testimony, and I’m grateful to him for sharing it. Listen, I’m a pro-life American, but my party traditionally always believed in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. What he’s talking about, that wouldn’t come into play if you had the boundaries in effect.”
She added, “In the U.S., 80% of Americans believe in access but also some limitations, but this very extreme position will backfire on Republicans not having exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. I absolutely think we need to course correct.”
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