Fox host challenges Walz on state’s abortion law, says it goes ‘far beyond Roe’

"But wait, wait—but let's agree. What you signed is there's not a single limit through nine months of pregnancy," Fox host Shannon Bream said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appears on "Fox News Sunday" with Shannon Bream. (Fox News)

(Daily Caller News Foundation) — Fox host Shannon Bream challenged Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday over his state’s abortion law, noting it goes “far beyond Roe v. Wade.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz have campaigned strongly on abortion rights since July, with polls showing Harris leading former President Donald Trump on the issue. On “Fox News Sunday,” Bream questioned Walz about Minnesota’s abortion law, pointing out that there is “no ban or limit” on abortion based on how far along the pregnancy is.

“Look, the vice president and I have been clear, the restoration of Roe versus Wade is what we’re asking for—” Walz said.

Bream jumped in to state how the law “goes far beyond Roe v. Wade,” to which Walz responded, “the law is very clear,” adding that Bream’s statement “has been debunked on every occasion.”

“But wait, wait—but let’s agree. What you signed is there’s not a single limit through nine months of pregnancy. Roe had a trimester framework that did have limits through the pregnancy. The Minnesota law does not have that,” Bream pushed back.

Walz stated that his state’s law “puts the decision with the woman and her health care providers,” citing individual cases like Amanda Zurawski’s, who claimed to have been denied a “medically necessary” abortion in Texas after restrictions took effect.

The governor quickly claimed that Trump wants a national abortion ban; however, Bream pushed back. She noted that Trump has “repeatedly” said he will not sign a national abortion ban and asked the governor if he was calling that a “flat-out lie.”

“Yes, of course, and Senator Vance has in the past said so too. Now look, they may see this as an election issue. We see it as a right of women to make their own bodily decisions, and that’s what the states, like my state, have the ability to put that in. States like Georgia force women to cross the border, and then we have the death of Amber Thurman,” Walz responded.

“So let’s be very clear, trying to cut hairs on an issue on this is not where the American public’s at,” Walz said. “They want the restoration of Roe versus Wade. Vice President Harris said she would sign it. That’s what we’ll do when we’re elected—”

Bream then cut off the Minnesota governor to clarify that his state’s law goes “beyond” Roe v. Wade, as well as clarifying on the tragic death of 28-year-old Amber Thurman in Georgia. Bream explained that Thurman died due to complications related to a medication abortion, not from being unable to receive an abortion procedure.

“Okay but to be clear the Minnesota law is far beyond Roe v. Wade and about the Amber Thurman case in Georgia, her family has—and it’s tragic, she is a young mother who left behind a young son. But what her family has said is it was a complication from an abortion pill that she received and she didn’t get proper care when she went to a Georgia hospital, which had multiple opportunities to intervene there,” Bream said.

“Her own attorney, the family’s attorney, says it wasn’t the Georgia law, it was the hospitals, what he claims is malpractice, not treating her when she clearly showed up in distress and still had the byproducts of her pregnancy because of that rare complication from the abortion pill,” Bream concluded. “So just to be clear on the Georgia law and how her family and her attorney sees it.”

A day after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Walz vowed that his state would become a “safe haven” for abortion. He issued an executive order on June 25, 2022, stating that individuals entering Minnesota from restricted states would not be extradited for undergoing the procedure.

This article was originally published at the Daily Caller News Foundation

 

Hailey Gomez