Great Debate, Terrible Argument, Self Dispute | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

TheGrio contributing editor Sophia Nelson argued against overturning Roe v. Wade with fellow conservative and CNN contributor Alice Stewart using a variety of points.

On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day, anchor Brianna Keilar hosted the two conservative women — both of whom describe themselves as “pro-life” — to debate the draft Supreme Court opinion on Roe v Wade.

It was a polite and measured conversation, notable so, given the context.

Stewart founded her argument on making it a “state-level” issue, and argued that overturning Roe is not the same thing as an abortion ban.

Nelson’s argument was that a person can be “pro-life and pro-liberty” and still oppose overturning such an important, precedent-setting decision. She also called out “some hypocrisy going on” when it comes to the right and bodily autonomy, citing mask debates.

Both arguments, however, rested on the question of the constitutional law, and Nelson rebutted Stewart’s praise for originalism with a powerful historical argument.

“There’s a whole lot of words that aren’t in the Constitution. If I were back 200 plus years ago, I’d be 3/5 of a person. Thank God the Constitution lives, breathes and expands, and grows with the times,” she said.

It was an illuminating discussion and nothing like the “rage and interrupt” format for which cable news is often criticized and lampooned.

In fact, it was great TV. The credit goes to the two conservatives for their thoughtful debate, and also to Brianna Keilar, for an excellent and well-handled segment on such a polarizing topic.

Breitbart senior editor-at-large Rebecca Mansour was deluged with ridicule and outrage for tweeting that the pro-life movement wasn’t violent when Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court.

The leaked draft has been the subject of enormous and often incredibly contentious debate, but Mansour’s thread stood out for the scorn it produced. She wrote:

She added “no amount of rioting, violence, fear-mongering, or any other left-wing intimidation,” will change the outcome.

It should go without saying this historical, uh — interpretation — didn’t go over well. At all.

“The ignorance of history on display here is breathtaking,” read one tweet. Noam Chomsky said, “They blew up abortion clinics with nail bombs and shot doctors dead in the sanctuaries of their churches.”

Mansour later replied to the blowback, writing she’s “well aware” of “violent fringe extremists,” but it never changed the decision.

In a day of high-temperature takes, Mansour’s downplaying decades of reality stood out.