Elizabeth Warren Says ‘No’ When Asked If Comparing New Texas Abortion Law to Handmaid’s Tale Is ‘Hyperbolic’

On Wednesday, MSNBC’s Joy Reid hosted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to talk about abortion restrictions in the United States in the wake of a new anti-abortion law in Texas going into effect earlier in the day.

The law bans abortions after six weeks. Since many women do not know they are pregnant until after the six-week mark, the law will likely outlaw abortion for many women who want one. It also allows private citizens to sue abortion clinics that violate the law.

President Joe Biden called the law “extreme” and said it “blatantly violates the Constitution.”

Reid fired off a tweet comparing the law to The Handmaid’s Tale, the Margaret Atwood novel adapted into a TV series about a dystopia in which women are frequently raped and tortured.

Lots to get into on @thereidout tonight, from the Texas handmaid’s tale to the end of renters’ protections and help for those out of work. See you at 7! pic.twitter.com/dDrkDuTZx4

— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) September 1, 2021

“You know, people think it’s hyperbolic when I tweet about The Handmaid’s Tale coming to America,” Reid told Warren. “But I don’t think it seems hyperbolic now. Does it to you?”

“No,” replied Warren. “I lived in an America in which abortion was illegal when I was young, before Roe vs. Wade. And when abortion is illegal, rich women still get abortions. Women with resources still get abortions. Women who have time and who have friends in other places will still get abortions. So what this law is really about is not stopping abortions across the board. This is about bearing down on the most vulnerable among us.”

Reid noted that with the enactment of this law, many desperate women could hurt themselves in trying to induce abortions themselves.

Warren agreed and criticized proponents of the law.

“They’ve constructed this alternative universe where somehow if we just force people to go through with these pregnancies, it will work out just fine for them,” said the senator. “And it’s not going to work out just fine. As you rightly say, when people are desperate enough, they will do desperate things. That is especially true in the circumstances of abortion.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!