‘Why Is It Not My Choice?’ ‘Pro-Life’ Whoopi Goldberg Throws Down With Nancy Mace On Abortion

Whoopi Goldberg and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) threw down in a debate on abortion restrictions on Monday as the Republican congresswoman joined the program to discuss a variety of issues.

After discussing funding the government and the likelihood of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) keeping his job, the conversation turned to women’s rights.

Co-host Alyssa Farah asked Mace, “Congresswoman, it’s so good to have you. I’ve been very grateful for your voice of moderation in the House Republican Conference and something you alluded to that’s become a hot-button issue, is most of our party has taken some extreme positions on the issue of abortion since Roe fell. You’ve talked about the fact that we have to be a pro-women party. We have to be a pro-family party. What is the GOP getting wrong right now, and what do you think the answer is to addressing this?”

“Well, certainly on women’s issues and when I agree with my party, I’m going to support them. And when I don’t agree, I’m going to call them out,” Mace began, adding:

I’ve been calling them out on this issue since before Roe v Wade was overturned. We cannot demonize women. And I myself, I am a survivor of rape. I was raped at the age of 16. I dropped out of high school, became a Waffle House waitress. By the grace of God, I eventually made it to college. I became the first woman to graduate from the Citadel.

But I know firsthand the kind of lifetime of trauma that women and girls face when they go through that and the shame that they feel and the fact that we demonize women who don’t want to be in that position to make a choice. They don’t want to be in a position where they have to decide to have an abortion or not. We have to find a balance to show we’re pro-life, but we care about women and find that balancing act. But what I have found is that neither side wants to find the middle ground. The left doesn’t want to tell you what their limits are. The right has, its a zero and no exceptions. That is not where the vast majority of Americans are. They want to be compassionate to women and girls. They want exceptions. At some point, we have to decide at one point does the baby have rights and the right to life.

After a quick discussion about when life begins, Mace added:

But also I look what we’ve done this year, this Congress, what have we done to ensure women have greater access to birth control? We’ve done nothing. What have we done to protect women who’ve been raped or girls who are victims of incest? We’ve done nothing. Nothing, by the way. I have bills on all of these things: foster care, child care, you name it. Some of my deals with the speaker have been on women’s issues and gun violence and we haven’t done a damn thing. And it makes me very angry as a woman.

Goldberg jumped in and asked, “I’m curious, do you want the government telling you how to raise your family?”

After Mace said that is not what she wants, Goldberg continued, “So shouldn’t we all be able to say, listen, because the law says you don’t know, the law says you don’t have to have an abortion. There’s no law on the books that says you have to have an abortion. Isn’t that my choice?”

“If my doctor and I feel that that’s the best way for me? Because if I’m a nice Jewish girl or a girl who has a different religious belief, why am I being held to someone else’s religious beliefs?” Goldberg declared to applause.

“At some point that, baby people will agree with me, that the baby deserves the right to life,” Mace replied.

“But, that’s your belief,” Goldberg shot back.

The conversation continued and Goldberg doubled down on her initial point, saying, “But I’m saying to you, since that isn’t that’s your choice to make that decision. Why am I, why do you want me to go with your belief when that is not my belief.”
After a lengthy applause, Mace replied, “Right now, all the states have the right to do whatever they want. In California and New York, it’s all the way up until nine months.”

Goldberg immediately protested that no doctor or woman is allowing abortions that late to actually happen as the two began speaking over each other.

As the two began arguing about abortions for rape victims, Goldberg demanded, “If what happened to you? Happened to my daughter? Why isn’t it my choice if she’s 12?”

After some more cross-talk, Goldberg concluded the conversation, saying, “But why is it not my choice? This is the part I’m missing. Because I understand your choice. I understand your choice.”

“I also am pro-life. I want everybody to have a safe life. I want them to be safe and do all the things that they should be able to do. But when it comes to what is best for my family and I, why isn’t that my choice and my doctor’s choice without bringing anyone else in? And by the way, just because I’m poor doesn’t mean the government doesn’t have a responsibility to me as well,” Goldberg concluded.

Watch the full clip above via ABC.