‘Are You Calling on People to Break the Law?’ Katy Tur Challenges California Lt. Governor For Urging Americans to ‘Defy’ Supreme Court

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur repeatedly asked Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D-CA) on Friday whether her comments encouraging Americans to “prepare to defy” the Supreme Court meant she was “calling on people to break the law,” in response to the opinion overturning the landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Appearing on Katy Tur Reports, Kounalakis said Friday’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization  “decision is delegitimizing the Supreme Court.”

She also blasted Justice Clarence Thomas, who was part of the 5-4 majority and wrote a separate concurring opinion urging the court to “reconsider” other cases dealing with contraception and same-sex marriage.

Who is Clarence Thomas? Is he my Saudi Arabian father who’s going to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body, with my life? That’s what this is coming down to. So these people have a misconception about who is going to listen to them. And so my message to the women and to anyone seeking their reproductive freedom across this country is come to California. You will have that freedom here. But, secondly, be prepared to live in defiance of these six people who think that they have the right to tell you what you can do with their bodies.

Tur asked Kounalakis, “Are you telling people to break the law?”

“No,” replied Kounalakis. “I am telling people that they can access under California law their rights that were protected by the Constitution. That is going to be held in defiance in some states. And I would say, yes, prepare to defy.”

Moments later, Tur asked for clarification on whether Kounalakis was calling on Americans to defy the law.

“In telling people to defy the Supreme Court, are you not worried about what message that sends for anything else the Supreme Court might rule on that you might agree with and others might not agree with?” asked Tur.

Kounalakis suggested the answer is yes.

Katy, it’s not my words. Their own actions are undermining their legitimacy. This is a Constitutional right that women have exercised for 50 years. I don’t believe that it is legitimate for them to take that right away from us. They cannot tell millions of American women what to do with their bodies. This is not going to stop abortion. It is only going to make it more dangerous and harder to access. But women know, they know they have a God-given right to autonomy over their body and they’re going to seek it out and Clarence Thomas is not going to tell them that they can’t.

Watch above, via MSNBC.