As is often the case when the topic veers towards a hot-button cultural or political topic, things got heated Friday on The View when conservative co-host Meghan McCain tangled with her co-hosts, causing Whoopi Goldberg to step in and shut her down.
Opening the show by discussing Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden retaining his commanding lead in the polls despite recent controversies, the panel debated whether primary voters are gravitating towards the former vice-president due to his centrism.
At one point, former Republican strategist Ana Navarro mentioned the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funding for abortions, claiming that Democrats wanting to get rid of the amendment is a far-left position. (Biden recently flip-flopped on his position.)
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With the panel debating over other Democratic positions that could be deemed “far-left,” McCain jumped in and told liberal co-host (and regular sparring partner) Joy Behar that she was “far to the left,” adding that the only candidates she doesn’t think is “too far to the left” is Biden.
“What is the policy you object to?” Behar asked, prompting McCain to claim it would “take the entire show” to detail her objections. Eventually, the former Fox News personality named health care and “late-term abortion” as specific Democratic positions she’s against.
“I want to say something,” Goldberg interjected. “There is no such thing as late-term abortion. There is no such thing!”
As the audience cheered, McCain asserted “there is” late-term abortion, causing Goldberg to state that “you cannot do abortions after a certain amount of time unless there is some sort of danger.”
McCain, meanwhile, said “there’s the debate right now,” leading Goldberg to say she’s aware that’s the case before telling viewers she wanted to clear up the confusion on late-term abortions.
“It’s not correct,” Goldberg added. “It’s not happening.”
As the Washington Post reported in February, “there is no precise medical or legal definition of ‘late-term,’ and many doctors and scientists avoid that language, calling it imprecise and misleading.”
Furthermore, only 1.3% of abortions are performed after 21 weeks of gestation, with the vast majority occurring at or before 13 weeks. As for the belief that a woman can get an abortion moments before giving birth, with abortion providers saying “that’s not how medical care works” and is “sensationalized fake news.” As for a New York law that allows women to obtain abortions after 24 weeks, it is only if “there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.”
