February 14, 2011 - 5:45pm
On Monday's American Morning, CNN's Kiran Chetry indicated that
individual liberty and the pro-life movement weren't compatible. During
an interview of Congressman Ron Paul, Chetry stated, "
Freedom to make your own decisions...
giving people the ability to make their own decisions, and the right to life movement don't always go together."
The anchor interviewed the libertarian-leaning Republican at the bottom
of the 6 am Eastern hour. Midway through the interview, Chetry claimed
that Paul is "not a huge social conservative," and then asked about his
recent speech at CPAC: "This is one of the largest social conservative
gatherings and you're a libertarian. What do you think your appeal is
among some of the young social conservatives?"
When Paul replied that "Well, I don't know where you got the idea that
I'm not a social conservative," the CNN personality explained what she
meant:
CHETRY: ...When you gave your speech [at CPAC],
you talked a lot about- you know, about going to war and our foreign
policy and making sure that we're not- I mean, there wasn't a lot of
talk about gay marriage, and whether or not that's going to be a huge
issue for you, come 2012,- gun rights, et cetera.
The Texas representative clarified that "what I talk about is freedom,
and let people make their own choices, and I make the point that in our
social lives and our religious lives- in the First Amendment, you get to
make your own choices, and therefore, we should be tolerant of
others....But I'm strong right to life, and I happen to have been
married for 53 years, so- you know, it's hard to say I'm not a social
conservative."
Chetry followed up with her slanted statement about the pro-life movement:
CHETRY: You know, freedom to make your own decisions and right to life don't always go together though.
PAUL: Excuse me again?
CHETRY: I said, freedom to make your own decisions, as you talk
about- giving people the ability to make their own decisions- and the
right to life movement don't always go together.
PAUL: Well, I don't see a conflict at all. It's just how you get there.
Compulsion is one thing. You know, fair and equal distribution of
wealth is something- I think people would sort of like to see everybody
share in a large middle class. Well, some people want to do it by
compulsion, and some people want to do it through the marketplace. I
happen to believe that sound money and free markets distribute- produce
more wealth and distribute it more fairly.
Though Congressman Paul didn't directly address Chetry's point,
pro-lifers would reply that the unborn child's right to life should be
protected, for "
if you can't protect life, how can you protect liberty,"as the
Texas congressman himself stated in 2007. Chetry clearly started off with a false premise.
On the
June 1, 2009 edition of American Morning ,
the CNN anchor let "abortion provider" Diane Derzis denigrate all
pro-life activists as potential murderers. Chetry also sympathized with
Derzis when she asked her, "
What is it like going to work knowing you have a target on your head?"
- Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here .
