Whoopi Goldberg let loose on conservative guest host Alyssa Farah Griffin during Thursday’s broadcast of “The View” on ABC, criticizing her for daring to push back on unlimited abortion access by posing a philosophical question about when life begins.
Goldberg opened the show by complaining about the Senate’s failure to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act — which would have codified abortion access in all 50 states through all nine months of pregnancy — and laid the blame for that squarely at the feet of Republicans and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV).
SENATE BLOCKS BILL TO CODIFY ABORTION RIGHTS: After the Senate casted their votes Wednesday for the Women's Health Protection Act that would have codified Roe v. Wade, #TheView panel reacts to Democrat Joe Manchin and every Republican voting against it.https://t.co/AEAQjRzDHG pic.twitter.com/JvhGVI6oYy
— The View (@TheView) May 12, 2022
Goldberg began by acknowledging the point that Manchin had raised when he pointed out that the WHPA would have nullified hundreds of state laws imposing restrictions on abortion, particularly in the later months of pregnancy. But then she took issue with his assertion — which was also correct — that the majority of the country was not in favor of unlimited abortion through all nine months for any reason.
“How do you know where we are today, Joe? How do any of you guys know where we are today? None of you have any uteruses. You don’t have a vagina. You don’t have anything that goes to carrying or making decisions about babies, and I don’t understand,” Goldberg continued. “All – it’s supposed to take care of women, and this is the response. It’s, like, so you just don’t give a hoot about what you just did. Okay. Everybody needs to just go vote these fools out of there.”
Griffin jumped in then, arguing that while she agreed the conversation should be driven by women, the Democrats had pushed forward with a bill that a lot of Americans believed went too far. She pointed to the bill proposed by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that would codify access to abortion into federal law but did not present such an extreme scenario.
Co-host Joy Behar argued, as she has before, that it was only the beginning of Republican plans to strip away other rights. “I think there’s a larger issue at stake right now. I think Americans are in denial exactly about what this Republican Party is planning to do,” she explained. “They would like to overturn voting rights. They would like to overturn gay rights. They’re in the process of overturning women’s rights.”
Sunny Hostin pointed out the fact that polling has suggested a majority of Americans are in favor of either keeping Roe v. Wade in place or codifying a federal right to abortion access, but Griffin pushed back.
“Your numbers are correct, 71 percent –” she began, but Hostin interrupted: “I don’t get the numbers wrong!”
“She’s Sunny Hostin!” Joy Behar responded.
Griffin went on to note that a majority of Americans also supported some limitations on abortion — limits that would be thrown out if the WHPA were to pass.
“Some limitations. But not outlawed,” Hostin objected.
“But yes, this is an uncomfortable conversation we have to have. At what point does a baby in the womb have rights, separate from a mother?” Griffin asked.
“Listen, it doesn’t matter what you think,” Goldberg shot back. “When you think it is. If I don’t think that that’s when it is —”
“Is that in, is it the ninth month? Is it the third trimester?” Griffin tried again.
“Listen. I don’t have, I don’t have to tell you —” Goldberg protested.
“It’s none of your business,” Behar added.
“It’s your decision, what you do with your body and how your family works. And for me, I don’t care what your religious beliefs are,” Goldberg said.
“It’s not even a religion. It’s really more a philosophical debate —” Griffin said before everyone began talking at once and the show cut to a commercial break.