Yahoo News Whoopi Goldberg has tense clash with congresswoman over abortion on “The View”: 'Why isn't it my choice?'
Whoopi Goldberg and Rep. Nancy Mace got into a heated clash over abortion rights in America on Monday's episode of The View.
During the second half of the South Carolina Republican's interview on the show, conservative cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin introduced a talking point about the GOP's handling of abortion.
"We cannot demonize women," responded the congresswoman, who described herself as a rape survivor after an incident that occurred when she was 16. "We have to find a balance to show that we're pro-life, but we are about women... What I have found is that neither side wants to find the middle ground. The left doesn't want to tell you what their limits are, the right is 'zero and no exceptions.' That's not where the vast majority of Americans are."
Goldberg then jumped in with a question for Mace.
"Do you want the government telling you how to raise your family?" the Oscar-winning actress asked. "There's no law on book that says you have to have an abortion. Isn't that my choice, if my doctor and I feel that's the best way for me? If I'm a nice Jewish girl or a girl who has a different religious belief, why am I being held to someone else's religious beliefs?"
Mace replied by telling Goldberg that most people would agree with her that a "baby has the right to life," and accused liberals of holding a conflicting stance on the issue.
"You don't want the government in the room with the doctor and the woman, but those who want the government to pay for it has the government in the room with the doctor and the woman, so you can't have it both ways," Mace said.
Griffin also questioned Goldberg on the "medical ethics" of late-term abortions that go "beyond the religious belief" on the issue.
"No one, no doctor, no hospital, no one will take a baby at nine months for an abortion," Goldberg stressed, as Mace attempted to re-route the conversation to a different topic. "What about the men who are rapists?" Mace asked, claiming that some blue-leaning states have "more rights for rapists than a woman who's been raped."
ABC Whoopi Goldberg clashes with Nancy Mace on 'The View'
Mace and Goldberg then attempted to speak over one another, though the former ultimately yielded to the Ghost star to make a final point.
"If what happened to you happened to my daughter, why isn't it my choice, if she's 12 and gets pregnant? Again, but why is it not my choice? This is the part I'm missing," Goldberg said. "I understand your choice, I also am pro-life; I want everybody to have a safe life, I want them to be safe and do all the things that they would be able to do, but when it comes to what's best for my family and I, why isn't it my choice and my doctor's choice without bringing anyone else in?"
Before throwing the show to a commercial break, Goldberg invited Mace back to the program to finish the chat, an opportunity Mace celebrated by calling the panel "great."
Even without Mace, the topic of abortion has had a complicated history on The View. While Goldberg has stated that the ladies at the table embrace an alternate "pro-life" stance similar to the sentiment outlined on Monday's episode, legal expert Sunny Hostin has maintained that her religion doesn't allow her to support abortion in any instance, though she still criticized the Supreme Court for "wielding" religion to strike down Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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