The eponymous host of MSNBC's "Alex Wagner Tonight" Wednesday compared women from pro-life states who want abortions to escaped slaves, calling for a new "Underground Railroad."
Wagner spoke with NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju about the politics of abortion in a divided America. She claimed that America is hearing "horror stories" from women who have been denied abortions in their home states and asked if her guest was surprised.
Timmaraju responded, "Reproductive rights advocates, particularly women of color leaders or reproductive justice organizations have been shouting for decades about the impact on communities like this and these exact stories for so long."
She added that the "the drip, drip, drip restrictions — targeted restrictions — against abortion providers" had already been making abortion access difficult "to vast parts of this country" such as "rural parts of America" and "women of color who couldn’t access abortion because of restrictions on federal funding."
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Timmaraju laid the blame squarely at the feet of "these legislators, these Republican extremists."
The NARAL president suggested that to Republicans, "this is all about power and control, and they’re seizing the moment, even though people in their own party — as we saw in Kansas — are horrified and don’t agree with them."
She warned that there is a larger problem of a right-wing movement that is spreading extremism on a variety of issues.
"I think it is an overall trend of drifting extremism of the extreme right. And it is indicative of a lot of challenges in this country," Timmaraju claimed.
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In the segment, Wagner and Timmaraju reviewed a map showing where abortion was most heavily restricted, and the NARAL president lamented the numerous hurdles abortion seekers contend with, noting that even when they get to states that have not banned abortion completely, they sometimes still have some levels of restrictions.
"Unless you’re going to California or New York, how hard is it, looking at that map, to get someone there? We are talking about a draconian nightmare in this country - for pregnant people, for women," Timmaraju warned.
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The MSNBC host hearkened back to the Underground Railroad, a secret network offering aid and shelter to escaped slaves trying to reach free states or Canada in the early 19th century.
Wagner quipped, "We need a kind of Underground Railroad for women seeking reproductive freedom."
