Jen Psaki wades into abortion debate, slams pro-life journo Owen Jensen
White House press secretary Jen Psaki lost her cool with a male Catholic TV reporter during her press address on Thursday, September 2, 2021. "I know you've never been pregnant," she slammed Owen Jensen of EWTN, who had asked, "Why does the President support abortion when his own catholic faith teaches it is morally wrong?"
The question arose in the context of the passing of the Texas abortion law by a divided Supreme Court, which makes it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after six weeks under any circumstances. President Joe Biden has condemned the Supreme Court ruling in favor of sustaining the law, which he believes will curb women's rights to a great extent. Psaki reiterated the same when Jensen threw the uncomfortable question at her.
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Who is Owen Jensen?
Jensen is the Washington DC Correspondent for Catholic TV Network Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). He had also worked with Channel 8 in the past. He has been vocal against abortion rights, recently criticizing the Biden administration and Vice-President Kamala Harris for supporting the same. At the September 2 press conference, Jensen asked Psaki about Biden's support to abortion rights even though it is considered 'wrong' in Catholicism and Biden being a practitioner of the same. In fact, Joe Biden is historically the second Roman Catholic president of the United States after John F Kennedy.
Psaki spoke for the president as well as herself as she appeared visibly upset at the question and reprimanded the reporter. "He believes it's a woman's right, it's a woman's body and it's her choice. It's up to a woman to make those decisions and a woman's decision to make with her doctor," she said. She went on to remind Jensen that he has never been pregnant so he would fail to understand the issue from a woman's perspective. "I know you have never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing the president believes that right should be respected," she told Jensen.
The law in question is the recently passed 'Texas Heartbeat Act', which bans abortion as soon as a heartbeat is detected in the fetus. The phenomenon generally happens after six weeks of pregnancy, which many feel is quite a short time. In fact, women often fail to know they are pregnant by that time. More shockingly, the law does not make any exceptions in unnatural cases like rape or incestuous pregnancies. People who might facilitate a pregnant woman in getting an abortion, including Uber drivers who might drive them to the clinic, also come under the ambit of violation of the law.
Biden has resolved to challenge the Supreme Court verdict to try and circumvent the ruling. He wishes to "ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe." He is determined to consider the legal tools he might need to "insulate women and providers from the impact of Texas' bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties."