Watching Elie Mystal knock down right-wing CSpan Callers is such a hoot. We clipped one above, but really, you should go watch the whole half-hour online for a dose of reality-based entertainment.
The call above is from a woman who, sadly, wants the US legal system to be the Ten Commandments. She said she had an abortion in her 20's and prays for forgiveness from the Lord every day for what she did. (She makes no comment about the man who got her pregnant against her will.)
Caller says she has "pencil and paper in hand right now. Tell me, where in the Constitution or in the papers, that gives a woman the right to kill an unborn human being. I will write it down and look it up."
Alrighty then!
She's not going to be happy with Elie's answer, because clearly she wants to do a Google search for where Alexander Hamilton put a seal of approval on fetal viability. The law doesn't work that way, caller.
Elie Mystal knows this, and took the time to mention that the 4th, 14th, and 9th Amendments apply to a woman's right to decide if she wishes to remain pregnant. And, if you don't like all those then the 13th. Amendment against involuntary labor forced by the government (anti-slavery) applies also.
Host Greta Brawner asks for a historical clarification on which argument was used to decide Roe V. Wade in 1973. This gave Mystal an excuse to tell Greta that the same arguments against Roe apply to BIRTH CONTROL.
Again, stick around and watch the whole segment on CSpan, for Elie Mystal to tell anti-abortion caller "Paul" to, you know, NOT HAVE AN ABORTION. And the listener who wants God to run America but doesn't want healthcare to come out of his wallet. Elie gives him a nice lecture on Christian charity.
We can't wait for Elie Mystal's book "Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution" to come out in January.