The View’s Whoopi Goldberg on Friday shut down co-host Meghan McCain’s attempt to push a false GOP talking point that Democrats support late-term abortions.
McCain made the claim during a heated discussion with co-host Joy Behar over whether Behar is a moderate Democrat or farther to the left.
“You are the most radical left person I’ve ever known. I say that with love and respect,” McCain said, adding that she was “far to the left.”
“For me, every candidate except Biden is too far to the left,” McCain said.
When Behar pressed McCain on what specific “far left” policies she disagreed with, she listed several including late-term abortion.
“Health care for all, the Hyde amendment, they were talking about late-term abortion,” McCain said.
That’s when Goldberg interjected to issue an on-air correction to McCain’s false claim.
“I want to say something,” Goldberg said. “There is no such thing as late-term abortion. There is no such thing!”
As the audience cheered, McCain insisted “there is” late-term abortion, causing Goldberg to again correct her.
“No, there isn’t,” Goldberg said. “You cannot do abortions after a certain amount of time unless there’s a danger.”
McCain disagreed, saying the topic was up for political debate “right now.”
“I just wanted to clear that up, because people keep saying ‘late-term abortions,’ and it’s not correct,” she said. “It does not happen.”
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.”
The Daily Beast adds:
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.”
