After the Arizona Supreme Court decided to issue a near total ban on abortion with no exceptions to rape or incest, MAGA-leaning political commentator and WOR New York Radio host Mark Simone — whom former President Donald Trump described as “one of the very best, a truly great talker, a special guy” — addressed the ruling on Fox News.
Simone took exception with the idea that Arizona had truly made it significantly harder for women to get an abortion, since there are no restrictions on women leaving the state to get the procedure.
Simone said: “If you had to travel to another state to get an abortion, it’s not the worst thing in the world.” He added that “buying a bus ticket to go somewhere to get it, is not the worst thing in the world.”
[NOTE: Arizona, the sixth largest U.S. state in area at 114,000 square miles, can take some time to traverse.]
Top Trump advocate: If women have to travel to another state to get an abortion it’s not the worst thing in the world pic.twitter.com/PjwpCYrxJa
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 9, 2024
The Arizona ruling — and Simone’s response — have triggered outrage from reproductive rights advocates including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (“brought to you by Donald Trump”) and Blue Missouri executive director Jess Piper (“When are men forced to travel across state lines because healthcare is banned in their state?”)
One commenter, emphasizing the reality of some situations beyond the abstract essence of the law, writes in reply to Simone: “Says a man. Who has never had to experience their own body miscarrying & the further along you are, the more harrowing it is, physically & emotionally. And if they find no heartbeats for twins at 13 weeks, trust me, you need help from an Obstetrician.”