politics @lemmy.world MicroWave @lemmy.world 1y ago

Nikki Haley Desperately Tries to Walk Back Comment on Alabama Embryo Ruling

newrepublic.com Nikki Haley Desperately Tries to Walk Back Comment on Alabama Embryo Ruling

As hospitals across Alabama pause IVF treatments, Nikki Haley is suddenly trying to claim she never said what she said.

As hospitals across Alabama pause IVF treatments, Nikki Haley is suddenly trying to claim she never said what she said.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is frantically trying to quell the controversy over comments she made about IVF after an Alabama court’s recent ruling that frozen embryos are children.

“We don’t want fertility treatment to shut down, we don’t want them to stop doing IVF treatment, we don’t want them to stop doing artificial insemination,” Haley said on CNN on Thursday. “But I think this needs to be decided by the people in every state. Don’t take away the rights of these physicians and these parents to have these conversations.”

It was Haley’s second such attempt to explain away her controversial stance on the issue. On Wednesday evening, Haley blurted out a much more gibberish response.

“Well first off all, this is, again, I didn’t say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling. The question that I was asked is ‘do I believe an embryo is a baby?’” Haley said on CNN Wednesday evening. “I do think that if you look in the definition, an embryo is considered an unborn baby. And so yes, I believe, from my stance, that that is.”

But calling an embryo—the stage before the microscopic cellular mass is labeled a fetus—an unborn baby is not exactly correct.

83 comments

This is such an easy layup for any reporter. Haley had her own son via IVF. Part of the IVF process is to ~~reject embryos~~ kill babies and only implant the most viable one(s). Someone should ask her how many of her ~~embryos she rejected~~ babies she killed in order to have her son. Bonus for the follow up question: Why was this baby killing ok for you, but not for others?
- When are they gonna press child abuse charges against her for starving and cryogenically freezing her babies?
- Oh wow. I can't believe she was stupid enough to say this at all.
  
  Totally unfit for any office.
  
  Really? At this point, how can you not believe the depths of stupidity that republicans will sink to?
- Can’t say I’m surprised, but damn…this level of hypocrisy is truly stunning.
  
  It’s not even notable any more, sadly.
- "That was God's plan, he works in mysterious ways."
  
  "My husband and I prayed on it and we were forgiven. Praise Jebus!"
With this stance, they are coming for birth control.
- .
  
  I'd normally be ok with this, but the problem is the "I told you so" smirk doesn't stop them from fucking up your life as well.
  
  Nah he already got his kids so he won't care any more. The next couple doing ivf are evil.
  
  Look, Haley showed how the thought process works in the posted article.
  
  He should be scared about the 54 ~~embryos~~ children they have.
  
  Why are conservatives always the ones to say, "that would never happen!" Then be the ones to di that exact thing?
  
  First they came for my neighbors...
- Of course they are. They'll never stop.
- They said they were gonna.
- They're beyond that already, they're coming for contraception next.
  
  My dude, what do you think "birth control" is...??
There is no such thing as an “unborn baby”. It’s not a baby until it’s born. Before that, it’s fetus, before that an embryo, and before that a zygote. This is why uneducated idiots should not be making decisions which involve science and medicine.

Edit: fixed
- I agree with the spirit of your post but I think you’ve switched the order of zygote/embryo.
  
  lol, fixed. I had just woken up
She can't even get the definition of embryo right and we should trust her with nukes??
- Have you seen the Republican frontrunner? I wouldn't trust him with rubber ball
  
  A rubber ball? My dude, I wouldn't even trust Trump with the balls he's had his entire life.
  
  No I totally would. A nice colorful rubber ball would be really distracting for him.
In Handmaid’s Tale–esque fashion, Haley has tried to toe the line on the issue of third-party fertility in a futile effort to keep voters from turning away from her floundering campaign, even though she conceived her son via artificial insemination.

Jesus fucking Christ, these people. For fuck’s sake!
Don’t take away the rights of these physicians and these parents to have these conversations.”

So.... she's pro choice?
- No, no. You see, she's saying you should feel free to talk about it, so long as your conclusion matches her opinion.
  
  IVF for some, miniature American flags for others
- Listen, she's going to say some stuff and its going to sound good and then you're going to vote for her to BEAT TRUMP alright? Don't spend a bunch of time thinking about it. Just VOTE.
  
  Also, she's a moderate Republican. The "liberal media" tells us this is so, because, uh, reasons. LOL.
  
  https://www.thedailybeast.com/daily-show-guest-host-desi-lydic-calls-bs-on-nikki-haleys-moderate-identity
Maybe she should get clear on the definitions, and make a statement on what she actually believes.
Because this correction she just made, is based on a very fundamental misunderstanding of what an embryo is.
- Because the anti-choice crowd will not accept any answer other than “life begins at conception.”
  
  Which is weird since their own book explicitly says life begins at first breath, provides instructions for a cheating detecting potion that'll induce abortion if the woman cheated, etc
- Maybe she should get clear on the definitions
  
  She knows. She's apparently had IVF herself.
  
  What a piece of shit, scumbag hypocrite she is.
- Nah. They are based on a basic misunderstanding of what "the Republican base" actually wants.
Oh no! Businesses are shockingly deciding it's not worth possible manslaughter charges for possible technical malfunctions. How fucking surprising.

These fucking idiots never think about how this stuff could affect them until it does. As long as it only hurts the right people, they cheer it on.
Oh Christ here we go again with the StAtEs RiGhTs lie...

It's one thing if arguments were made in good faith, but these assholes just hide behind the states rights issue until they're in the position to make it federal...
- Those same states will stomp all over city government rights when it comes to district maps, voting locations, schools, and local mandates/statutes. DeSantis even has his fist up Disneyland's ass. America would be a collection of shitholes if not for federal government. Wouldn't be surprised if we'd still have slavery.
  
  We do
I posted about this a few days after Roe was overturned. I’m a bit surprised it took this long for IVF to be attacked. Next will be stem cell research, then contraception.

If you were an adult in the 1980s-90s, you’ll remember this.

Haley might be young, but she’s an idiot if she didn’t see this coming. It was her own party that made these same moves 40 years ago, and they haven’t been subtle about repeating history.

I guess all republicans are morons, but come on. This is not a surprise.
What I found hilarious (except not) was that she said it should be a conversation between a woman and her doctor, although the embryo is a baby and killing it is murder so... Not much to discuss there is there?

Discussion is pretty much conspiracy to commit murder under that law, right?
I think the Alabama law is quite clear. Every month a woman's egg drops and she doesn't go get impregnated, she's a murderer. All women need to be pregnant from puberty to menopause, and if they aren't, they're killing babies.

Yep.

Bunch of damned removed.
- Wait, I don't want to confuse what the ruling actually means. Embryos are fertilized, so an egg going without fertilization and being passed through menstruation doesn't meet that definition. If it is fertilized and is still passed through menstruation (as what, a good quarter of pregnancies do?) then sure.
  
  I'll be there first to point out hypocrisy and the authoritarian big government this would require to prove (and likely would affect minorities disproportionately), but I don't think it helps to distort what this law means. It very well could be a slippery slope towards it, and yes is still enormously stupid, but it doesn't meet the threshold of what you're arguing. Unless I've misunderstood the wording of the law?
  
  Wait, I don’t want to confuse what the ruling actually means.
  
  Right, give them time to add another ruling that does mean that.
  
  Fair enough.
Conservatives are losers with no platform since religion is dead as fuck as a platform.
- Conservatives are losers
  
  Majority of governorships and plurality of state legislatures. Nevermind all the fucking judge and sheriff seats.
  
  I would love if liberals could lose like that.
Nikki Haley is a fundamentalist extremist that is advocating for a full ban on abortions after six weeks (which makes abortions essentially entirely illegal). Just because she isn't Trump doesn't mean she isn't fucking crazy.
So she doesn't want IVF to stop but does still think embryos are babies. To me this reads like someone who thinks literally all embryos retrieved during the IVF process must be used. For those who aren't aware, IVF can potentially end up with 8 or so viable embryos.
- She has to know it’s BS because she’s had IVF herself.
That's RIGHT! Just like Abortion this should be a "STATES RIGHTS" issue wink wink nudge nudge!
- "the people in every state should decide" really means "the lunatic governor in every state should decide".
  
  "the people in every state should decide" really means "~~the lunatic governor~~ Republican (not elected but chosen by the party) governor in every state should decide".
  
  Yeah, they are just about done with elections and definitely don't want Democrat Governors getting to have any say if they can help it. We are getting really close back to ruling by divine right.
The comments from The Daily Show on her and her being a so-called "moderate" are even more poignant now.
You can't believe anything that comes out of any conservative politician's mouth.
Can we send all the unused or unwanted embryos to Alabama? If they think they're children, they'll want to pay to keep them frozen for all time right?
Because they know their supporters will only hear the first comments and the people who are on the fence will be the ones paying close enough attention to hear the walk back later.
Doesn't matter, the only possible chance Haley has is if Trump gets convicted of something between now and November. Haley is raising awareness for her 2028 campaign.
- He’d still be the nominee
  
  I look forward to the maga goons who will keep writing Trumps name in no matter the circumstances. Jail, dead, exiled to Moscow... they're a cult.
  
  Dude could run from prison and he might even win, depending on whether the economy slips in the shower between now and November.
  
  After a full 24 months of liberals screaming "He's a fascist! We have to stop him! PLEASE VOTE! It's the only way to stop the fascism!!!" Biden would personally hobble down to the cell and let him out for his swearing in ceremony, because fuck sorry dawg there's nothing we can do a rule's a rule.
  
  You'd be getting "Please donate $20.24 to STOP TRUMP NOW! The fight for the Midterms STARTS TODAY!" even as Roberts was holding up the copy of Hustler magazine Donny asked to be sworn in on.
Own it, you coward.
Nikki Haley is suddenly trying to claim she never said what she said.

And we thought only Biden and Trump were having cognitive issues...

Edit: Some people apparently don't get it.
- Nah, this is just saying something moronic and then frantically trying to do damage control when it turned out people didn't like it.
  
  Typical sleazy politician move that has nothing to do with cognitive function.

83 comments