Nikki Haley Has the Gall to Pretend She’s a Moderate on Abortion

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley had the nerve to pretend she’s a moderate on abortion issues, in a speech given Tuesday at an organization pushing a national ban on the procedure.

Haley spoke at the national headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the anti-abortion organization that aggressively turned on Donald Trump after he said abortion rights should be decided by individual states instead of federally banned.

During her speech, Haley said that a federal ban was unlikely to work, so the next president should try to find a “national consensus” instead. She listed several points that she felt appealed to both sides of the aisle.

Most of the points Haley included are either not real or only occur in extreme circumstances. Fetuses are rarely “born alive” during an abortion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health experts have warned that bills requiring care be given to fetuses “born alive” could negatively affect care for babies born prematurely or with fatal abnormalities by preventing doctors from helping relieve any pain those babies might be in, or punishing medical professionals who let families hold such newborns before they die.

Republicans like Haley often argue that abortions are conducted up until the moment of birth. That does not happen. Abortions that occur in the second trimester are most often for wanted pregnancies that develop complications, rendering them unviable and possibly a threat to the pregnant person’s life. (Less than 1 percent of abortions take place in the third trimester, for similar reasons.)

Haley also tried to appear moderate on certain points that are only issues because of what her fellow Republicans are doing. She said people who get abortions shouldn’t be jailed, as was suggested in a few Republican-backed state-level bills deemed so extreme that they failed. She also said there should be wider access to contraception, even as Republicans have repeatedly voted against expanding availability.

Haley has generally adopted a waffly stance on abortion since announcing her campaign. Abortion wins elections, and Haley can’t afford to alienate anyone, so she’s trying to find a middle lane that will win over both sides. But during her speech Tuesday, she essentially admitted that she can’t be trusted on abortion when she brought up her own record.

Haley voted for multiple bills while she was a state senator in South Carolina that restricted abortion access or gave rights to fetuses. As governor, she signed a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. She claimed the time limit was to prevent fetuses from feeling pain, even though the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that fetuses don’t feel pain until at least 24 weeks of gestation.

If Haley were really interested in a “national consensus” on abortion, she could look at the numbers. Almost two-thirds of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center.

But it’s clear she doesn’t care all that much. You can take her word for it.

North Dakota lawmakers have passed a bill forcing schools to blare anti-abortion propaganda videos at children.

House Bill 1265 orders school districts to show students a “high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.” The bill’s text does not mention any concern for medical or scientific accuracy, nor principles related to bodily autonomy.

The bill also orders districts to show students “high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for every week of pregnancy until birth.”

What might such content look like inside classrooms across the state?

One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Senator Janne Myrdal, presented a sample video called “Baby Olivia,” made by anti-choice organization Live Action.

“This is the moment that life begins,” a narrator says in the video, overlaying an animation of a sperm cell approaching an ovum.

The question of when “life begins” is a primary point of contention in the debate surrounding abortion rights; the video Myrdal presents, however, comes from an organization known for making heavily edited hoax videos to take down Planned Parenthood.

At 11 weeks, the video claims a fetus is “playing in the womb” and “moving her body and exploring her environment.” (Recall that the point of viability for a fetus is generally considered to be at 23 or 24 weeks.)

Districts are not required to show this particular video; however the “model” video was the main one grounding debate as the bill was being discussed in the state legislature. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction told The New Republic that while the bill does not require schools to use a specific video, “this one meets the parameters.”

The bill passed just ahead of a restrictive six-week abortion ban signed Monday, also pushed by Myrdal.

Fargo school board member and state director of Planned Parenthood Katie Christensen noted that the school board of the state’s largest city opposed the bill. Christensen told TNR that experts came together to create the state’s current health education content standards, and that the law “disregards the hard work and expertise of those individuals.”

Myrdal, for her part, said showing the video to students would be “enhancing the understanding of life, enhancing the intrinsic value of human beings.” In February, Myrdal turned her back on a pastor who delivered a prayer to the Senate about the value of people of all backgrounds.

“Creator of the universe and all people therein, you who formed humankind in your image, placing them in this world in all their diversity—differing colors, genders, races, ethnicities, and language. We praise you for the splendor of your creation and the love that motivated your hand on this Earth,” Reverend Dr. Leanne Simmons preached to the Senate. Every floor session begins with a prayer by a religious leader, but only this specific deliverance about the value of all human beings brought Myrdal to protest.

Live Action hailed the bill’s passage as “ensuring all 116,639 students in North Dakota will be shown the truth,” especially in light of “one of the options presented for school district use being Live Action’s cutting-edge educational video Baby Olivia.” Myrdal has said that Live Action is even willing to relinquish its rights to the video, taking its name off the video and providing it for free to the state.

“We know that teachers already manage various tasks every single day and now this is one more requirement added to their plates,” Christensen said, adding that even though Live Action’s video will not be required, the bill still requires some form of video to be shown. “If a district or teacher wants to seek an alternative video, that would require more time and resources to fulfill this unnecessary mandate.”

As can be seen with the litany of copycat bills nationwide antagonistic to abortion rights, labor, LGBTQ people, and more, it’s possible that North Dakota will inspire other state legislatures as well. “With this bill’s passage, it is possible that other states will follow suit,” Live Action celebrated.

Fox announced Monday that Carlson would no longer appear on the network, a shock move that seemed to catch everyone off guard. Fox had even aired ads that day for Carlson’s show up until the decision was made public.

Carlson now appears to be persona non grata at Fox, despite being one of the network’s most popular stars. An interim show hosted by rotating anchors will take Carlson’s coveted evening air slot until a successor is announced.

Who do you think will replace Carlson?

The senator who sponsored North Dakota’s new near-total abortion ban, one of the strictest measures in the country, has a long history of trying to impose her own extreme views on the state.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, North Dakota has banned abortion after six weeks, before most people even know they are pregnant. The state tried to implement its trigger law, a total abortion ban, but the measure was blocked in the courts.

Governor Doug Burgum on Monday signed a bill amending the language in the six-week ban, effective immediately. The law now makes exceptions for rape or incest, but only up to that six-week limit. There are also exceptions for life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies, when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, making the pregnancy nonviable and dangerous; and for molar pregnancies, another nonviable compilation when a tumor forms in the uterus.

Minors need to get consent from both their parents to get an abortion, with no exception for minors who might be abused by a parent or guardian, or they have to petition a court to get an abortion without parental consent. Doctors are required to lie to patients that medication abortions can be reversed. Any care provider who violates the law can be charged with a felony.

The measure was sponsored by Senator Janne Myrdal, an extremist Republican first elected in 2016. Prior to serving in public office, she led the anti-abortion group ND Choose Life and was a former director for the state chapter of Concerned Women for America, a conservative activist group that has lobbied for anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Myrdal co-sponsored a bill in January 2017 that would have classified all internet-connected devices as a “pornographic vending machine.” Under the measure, it would have been a crime to sell any such device in North Dakota unless the “obscene” material could be censored or internet users paid $20 for uncensored access.

Two years later, Myrdal co-sponsored a bill that would have required doctors to lie to their patients that it was possible to reverse a medication abortion (which made it into Monday’s abortion bill). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says abortion reversal claims are “unproven and unethical,” and attempts to reverse a medication abortion could put a patient’s health at risk.

Myrdal shared an image on her Facebook page of a Pride flag with a swastika on it, and after being met with outrage, apologized and said she never meant to post the image. She tried to defund North Dakota State University for launching a research project on youth sex education, and she backed a bill that would prevent government entities from requiring that employees be addressed by their preferred pronouns. That measure would also require teachers to get permission from parents and the school administration to use a student’s preferred pronouns.

More recently, she also sponsored a bill requiring all schools in North Dakota to show students a propaganda video from the anti-abortion group Live Action.

“Janne’s vision—and the vision of those like her—is to create a state where they make all the rules,” Amy Jacobsen, the executive director of progressive rights group Prairie Action ND, wrote in a 2021 op-ed. “What religions are acceptable. What should be taught in our schools. What sex education curriculum may be used (if any at all). What science to allow, and what science to deny.”

North Dakota’s Janne, like the many who came before her, carries out her bigotry and intolerance in the name of religion. Yet her views are not based on anything “Christian.” Christ taught acceptance, compassion, and to be cautious when judging others. Instead, Janna Myrdal is mean-spirited and only too happy to not only judge but lay out the penalties for those she doesn’t like. She is, in short, a bully.

It was the first night on Fox News without Tucker Carlson in seven years, and his former colleagues barely mentioned him.

Fox announced Monday that Carlson would no longer appear on the network. The decision seemed to catch everyone off guard, considering the separation was effective immediately and Carlson had no formal opportunity to say goodbye. Fox even aired ads Monday for an interview with Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Carlson’s show before the decision was made public.

It now appears that Carlson is already persona non grata at Fox. His departure was announced on air, when host Harris Faulkner simply read the statement that had already been released.

But on Monday night, Carlson got only the most passing of mentions.

Temporary host Brian Kilmeade also took over the big Ramaswamy interview, a sign that Carlson was ultimately replaceable to the network despite being Fox’s most popular anchor for years.

Weird theories are already circulating as to why Carlson is no longer at Fox, including that the network is trying to minimize the fallout of multiple lawsuits. But the important thing to remember is that now, there is one less fount of hateful conspiracy theories on air.