The strongest pro-life stance you'll likely ever see on Spanish-language TV was recently found in the unlikeliest place- on Telemundo's version of "The View". Myrka Dellanos, co-host of Telemundo's The Hot Table (La Mesa Caliente/LMC), powerfully stood for the unborn and stated the mainstream Hispanic position on abortion.
What can best be described as Telemundo's version of "The View", had its four co-hostesses discussing Oklahoma´s Senate Bill 612- which makes it a felony to perform an abortion. As her co-hosts took different corners of the pro-abortion position, Dellanos gave the show´s audience something rarely seen at the Spanish-language corporate media: a voice for the baby.
MYRKA DELLANOS: But in the end- the idea is that they know that there’s another choice. That you don’t have to kill the baby. That baby was created from the beginning of the universe, created with a divine plan from God. In other words, who is advocating for the right of the babies – who are babies?
During the report, Dellanos confirmed that she was “100 percent pro-life” and explained that the new Oklahoma law allows criminal charges for doctors who perform abortions, but not for the women receiving the abortion. Her main focus, however, was to remind viewers “...that there’s another choice. That you don’t have to kill the baby.”
Dellanos also spoke of a study finding that "92% of women who hear the baby's heartbeat decide they don't want to have that abortion and save their baby. So it's super interesting and I think there are options, I mean, adoption is a nice option to an unplanned pregnancy."
Co-host Gisselle Blondet tried to pass as pro-life but fell short when she called for a gray area to allow for certain abortions. Yet, it was Verónica Bastos who won the self-absorbed award when she actually expressed horror at the thought of having a baby “with a man who isn't the one I necessarily want. Why? Because it's going to make me unhappy, it's going to make the baby unhappy, and I find it very sad that they give them up for adoption... the truth is it is not an option.” In other words, "better aborted than make ME - or anyone else for that matter - unhappy".
Kudos to Dellanos for breaking the Telemundo push for abortion to their audiences, a position that as MRC Latino has found, appears to be the network´s de facto stance, as we have observed here and here. The Spanish-speaking public can certainly benefit from more objective coverage that allows for the defense of the defenseless. Bien hecho, Myrka. Well done.
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To view the full transcript of the segment mentioned above as aired on Telemundo's La Mesa Caliente on April 6, 2022, please click Expand:
MYRKA DELLANOS: We now begin with something extremely serious that you are definitely going to want to talk about on our social media.A doctor performing an abortion in the state of Oklahoma will be now committing a crime and will pay for it. A new bill was passed in the state where doctors who perform an abortion would be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. In addition, they will have to pay a fine of $ 100,000. Patients would not be charged with any crime. They will only allow doctors to perform an abortion if the mother's life is in danger because of the pregnancy. Gov. Kevin Stitt has promised to sign it so it's going to become law. No abortion in that state.
ALIX ASPE: Well, I think it's no surprise. And I don´t hide that I am obviously, I am pro-choice. I believe that women should have control over their bodies and their decisions. I believe that this is something that takes us backwards in all the advances we’ve made in our community, in what we have advanced with feminism, with women. And it also upsets me that this completely bans them. That is, it is a total ban on abortion. It doesn't even consider the first few weeks, if you were raped, if it's incest. All these girls and women who go through problems and traumatic things are not going to have a place where there is a double option to go and get an abortion. That's how we put them in danger, when they go underground to look for other options that put their lives in danger. In addition, I am also fed up with men deciding on women's lives because I did some research, and only 20% of the Oklahoma legislature are women. So they are making the decisions for us and our bodies. I might not get an abortion, but I'm also a person of privilege and I believe that women should have the choice over their own bodies.
DELLANOS: Well, in all things regarding choice, I think we should have options, but I also think- who speaks for the lives of the babies? I am definitely pro-life- 100 percent pro-life. And I like that this new law won´t criminalize women. Because many times the woman is in a situation of despair, of sadness, she really does not know what to do. But the doctors are the ones who are going to have to pay this fine because they do know and they are making money. And at the end of the day, who is advocating for babies' lives? You need to know know some statistics; Latinas are a minority in the United States, but we are the majority in abortions along with African Americans. Also, one in three pregnancies of we Latinas ends in an abortion. And also, at the Heartbeat of Miami pregnancy clinics where I've been involved a few times, we were told that 92% of women who hear the baby's heartbeat decide they don't want to have that abortion, and save their baby. So it's super interesting and I think there are options, I mean, adoption is a lovely option to an unplanned pregnancy.
ASPE: That one in three women who have an abortion are Latinas, it’s even more important that there is a safe place where they can do it and that they can have a safe abortion
CROSS TALK
ASPE: ... There are no options. If you want to have an abortion, you can't have it if you were raped, if you had incest, a bad experience... If one in three women is having an abortion, they need to have a place where they do it safely.
DELLANOS: But in the end- the idea is that they know that there's another choice. That you don't have to kill the baby. That baby was created from the beginning of the universe, created with a divine plan from God. In other words, who is advocating for the rights of the babies – who are babies?
GISELLE BLONDET: I agree with you, Myrka. I obviously don't like the idea of an abortion, I'm not in favor of that. But I think that what happens is that we're going to both extremes, ok? There has to be an area - let's call it (a gray area). Because there are situations where really when we start thinking, and speaking of statistics, because I'm also looking here- because I say, well, it's very easy to say "no, I don't believe in abortion", but what about those girls who are raped at the age of eleven, like a girl in Argentina who was forced to have her baby; but at the age of eleven that body - that organism is not ready, and there’s great danger.
CROSS TALK:
DELLANOS: The mother’s at risk there, the mother- and so, yes, they say they can
BLONDET: ... but let’s talk about the girl's health.
DELLANOS: But that's why, in this court they are deciding that if the mother's life is in danger, you can have the abortion. I mean, that kind of situation wasn't going to happen, it shouldn't happen.
BLONDET: Yes, but we're talking about 120 million young people under the age of 20 who have been victims of sexual abuse, and many times these girls don't want to face their family. They remain silent and then what they do is they go to places where they put their lives in danger.
ASPE: That’s why each person should decide…
VERÓNICA BASTOS: It's a very sensitive subject…
BLONDET: Very sensitive.
BASTOS:...and very difficult to analyze. I believe that every woman is a world (unto herself) and every mind and every body decides (for herself) what we want. Since 1973, there's that Roe vs. Wade law, which precisely protected us women who believed we had the right to choose. If this changes, and it changes in these states, then I think a lot of women are either going to go to other states or they're going to go to other countries. Or as my colleagues talked about, they are going to go to clandestine clinics- which I think is the worst thing that can happen to us. Women have bled to death there, they have died. And I think , Myrka, that what you said is true. Each baby comes into this world…
CROSS TALK
BASTOS: … with a divine option from God. Yes, it is true, but sometimes, it does not come at the right time, nor for the right person or with the right man. So, I'm not forced to have a baby with a man who isn't necessarily the one I want. Why? Because it's going to make me unhappy, it's going to make the baby unhappy, and I find it very sad that they give them up for adoption... that’s really not an option
CROSS TALK
ASPE: But also, not everyone is religious, and not everyone believes in God. That is, there are people who have other types of ideologies and thoughts about wanting to go and practice something that has to do with going to the doctor.
DELLANOS:Well, but regardless…if- if you murder a person who is pregnant, the murder counts for two people.
ASPE: I understand your point but…
DELLANOS: That’s not my point. It’s the law. It’s the law.
BLONDET: But if you went to a clandestine place, and then having something like a perforated uterus, an infection can cost you your life, you also have to try to avoid that.
BASTOS: It is a controversial and painful issue
DELLANOS: And that can also happen from having an abortion.
