After repeatedly downplaying the effects of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, and insisting the decision just returns reproductive rights to the states, right-wing media had a meltdown over companies proposing support for their employees who must now cross state lines to receive abortions.
Currently, anti-abortion advocacy groups are working with Republican governors and state lawmakers to block people from crossing state lines to seek the procedure elsewhere.
Conservative media, however, have continued to downplay the decision’s effect both before and after it was issued and insist that all it does is return reproductive rights and abortion regulation to the states. Right-wing media figures and network guests have proposed that people should “move” states or “elect new people” if they don’t like their state’s anti-abortion laws:
- During the June 21 edition of Fox News’ The Five, co-host Jesse Watters said that if Roe is overturned, “you might have to, if you practice unsafe sex, drive an hour across state lines to get an abortion.” Watters went on to call the reaction to the upcoming decision “overblown a little bit.”
- During the June 21 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocyinsisted the decision gives the choice to the states and said, “If you don’t like what your state chooses, then elect new people.” Fox News contributor Leo Terrell agreed, adding, “This case has no effect on the rights of individuals to seek an abortion throughout this country.”
- Reporting outside the Supreme Court when the decision was announced on June 24, Fox News correspondent David Spunt said the effects of the decision “depends where you live, for instance, people in Arizona, where abortion will now be illegal, will have to travel to California where Gov. Newsom said abortion will be a safe haven for people that want to seek the procedure.”
- Conservative radio host Erick Erickson:
And soon people will realize that democracy in action matters and they can go somewhere to get an abortion if they want one. Progressives will step up to cover the costs. It just won’t be as impactful or affect many people.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 25, 2022
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, several companies including Nike, Starbucks, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Netflix, Disney, and Goldman Sachs publicly pledged financial support for employees who need to travel across state lines in order to receive an abortion.
Predictably, right-wing media slammed companies for offering this support, questioned the morality of these policies, and even went as far as to claim companies are paying women to have an abortion because they don’t want to pay for parental leave.