MSNBC Host to Planned Parenthood: ‘These Airwaves Are Your Airwaves’

January 10th, 2017 1:24 PM

Americans know the liberal media are untrustworthy. But there’s something especially repulsive when they don’t even pretend to uphold journalistic integrity.

On Sunday, MSNBC host Joy Reid invited Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards on her show, AM Joy. But rather than conducting an interview, Reid turned her show into a Planned Parenthood lovefest, from insinuating that defunding Planned Parenthood would make women die to promising Richards that “these airwaves are your airwaves.”

To begin her show, Reid lamented over the recent announcement by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that an upcoming bill to repeal ObamaCare would include legislation to defund Planned Parenthood.

Turning to Richards, Reid elaborated on the greatness of Planned Parenthood.

“I think we need to be in fight-mode as women, the idea that Planned Parenthood, Cecile, the place where, when I graduated from college and had no money and was broke and had a low-paying job, got all my health care,” she said, flustered. “Not abortion care, health care. It – it literally will be defunded just like that. What can Americans do about it?”

Throughout the interview, the host and guests echoed each other.

When another guest, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health Executive Director Jessica González-Rojas, gushed that “A fight against Planned Parenthood is a fight against our communities,” Reid responded, “Yeah, absolutely.” Richards also added, “absolutely.”

Reid went so far as to use the word “we” when referring Planned Parenthood.

Are we at risk now, is Planned Parenthood at risk,” she asked, “of red-state Democrats throwing Planned Parenthood under the bus?”

To prove the need for Planned Parenthood, Reid offered a “very sort of real world fundamental example of why it's so important”: the Zika virus.

“If you're an indigent woman, if you’re a woman who’s on Medicaid, if there is no Planned Parenthood, what is the option?” Reid asked.

When she stressed the numbers of patients that would lose access to Planned Parenthood care, if it were defunded, she added, “And can you guys just reiterate, this is not about women seeking abortions. This is actually about healthcare, right?”

But, later on, Reid seemed to indicate the opposite if Planned Parenthood lost funding.

“It’s ironic because more unintended pregnancies is actually going to increase the number of women seeking abortions and then the number of women who will die trying to seek them illegally,” she said. “It is frightening. It’s frightening.”

(Reid did not address that while the Hyde Amendment stipulates that federal funding, with a few exceptions, cannot be used for abortion, government funds are fungible. This means Planned Parenthood could offset costs with public funds to free up other resources for abortion.)

In her conclusion, Reid stressed to Richards and González-Rojas that “these airwaves are your airwaves.”

“Come back anytime,” she pushed. “We need to keep this in front of mind for women. This is an emergency.”

It’s an emergency all right. A media emergency, especially when it comes to MSNBC.