Fox News host Tucker Carlson is lashing out at employers promising to pay for the interstate travel of people seeking abortion care following the Supreme Court‘s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade.
Carlson made the remarks during the Friday night edition of his opinion show Tucker Carlson Tonight. The conservative pundit denounced President Joe Biden and others on “the left” who were speaking out against the Court’s ruling before taking aim at a number of American companies that have promised to provide travel expenses to workers seeking the procedure that is now or will soon become illegal in their home states.
“Notice that it’s abortion that is the red line for them,” a seemingly befuddled Carlson said after playing a clip of Biden lamenting the decision. “Abortion? Of all the issues, why is that so important to them?”
Carlson then said that it was “obvious” that corporations promising to pay for abortion-related travel were only doing so out of their own financial interests. Major U.S. companies including Amazon, JPMorgan, Walt Disney, Citigroup, Starbucks, Yelp and Tesla have all pledged assistance.
“It’s obvious why it’s so important to America’s corporations, almost all of whom immediately weighed in to say, ‘We’ll fly you to get an abortion at the state of your choice,’” said Carlson. “Well, of course—employees without families are much cheaper for the company.”
“And it’s much cheaper to pay for an abortion than it is to pay for maternity leave, or an extra name on the insurance policy,” he added. “So, it’s all about the money for corporate America. It always is. Families are bad for big corporations, therefore they’re against families.”
Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision, on Friday while issuing a ruling on the lawsuit Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Mississippi-based suit concerned a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks and offered a direct challenge to the Court’s longstanding precedent.
Following the decision, most abortions immediately became or will soon become illegal in roughly half of all U.S. states, with the possibility of more to follow. However, barring Congress passing a national ban, the procedure is likely to remain legal in multiple states controlled by Democrats, who largely support abortion rights.
In addition to corporations offering to provide travel assistance for cross-state abortion care, news of the Court’s decision prompted prominent Democratic leaders to pledge support for those crossing states lines, while warning against any attempts to punish those who travel.
Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown and Jay Inslee—the Democratic governors of California, Oregon and Washington state, respectively, announced an initiative they dubbed the “Multi-State Commitment to Reproductive Freedom” on Friday.
The initiative includes a number of provisions to push back “against efforts by states hostile to abortion rights” that would “target patients who receive legal reproductive healthcare services” in states where abortion remains legal.
“We will resist intrusions by out-of-state prosecutors, law enforcement or vigilantes trying to investigate patients receiving services in our states,” Brown said in a video statement. “We will not stand on the sidelines.”
The post Tucker Carlson Fumes at Employers’ Abortion Aid: ‘They’re Against Families’ appeared first on Newsweek.
