Monday's NOW with Alex Wagner on MSNBC started with some video footage of nuns singing songs to the elderly poor. But, judging by the discussion that ensued between Wagner and her two guests, you’d think the Little Sisters of the Poor were more intimidating than the Sopranos.
“The administration must now deal with this latest threat to the nation’s health care law: these ladies, the Little Sister of the Poor.”
That was MSNBC's Wagner, who also actually said: “It seems this administration has bent over backwards to ensure that people can exercise their religion” and, “Women’s lives are being saved by provisions in the Affordable Care Act.”
The host invited Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT) on her show to discuss Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s decision to delay Obamacare's contraception mandate for the religious organization the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Denver-based group of Catholic nuns who run nursing homes for the poor. Wagner, Richards and Dean didn’t seem to be impressed by these nuns’ admirable work and made it seem like the Obama administration was the victim in this case.
While Richards avoided attacking the nuns directly and instead tried to insist Obamacare would do wonders for young women, Dean didn’t seem to have any problem calling out the Sisters.
“First of all, this is an argument about whether the Sisters of the Poor have the right to force their views of religion on all their employees. They’re trying to make this an argument about whether they’re gonna sign a paper or not. If the court should decide they don’t have to sign the paper they essentially get to force their religion on all their employees.”
Question: Isn’t it safe to say people who willingly applied to work for the Little Sisters of the Poor are more likely than not to hold the same religious beliefs as their employer?
One only has to look at The Little Sisters of the Poor mission statement to understand their values:
Our vision is to contribute to the Culture of Life by nurturing communities where each person is valued, the solidarity of the human family and the wisdom of age are celebrated, and the compassionate love of Christ is shared with all.
Regardless of these lovely ladies’ compassionate efforts, Dean insisted the nuns were in the wrong. He also resurrected the annoying argument that Republicans are waging a ‘war on women,’ noting, however, that women are recognizing how religious employers are forcing their views on them.
“The average woman frames it that way herself. She doesn’t has to be told what the Republicans and Fox News and all these people are doing to them. They know what they’re doing to them.”
Planned Parenthood seemed to be okay with MSNBC’s misleading attack on nuns and Republicans, tweeting their approval of the segment:
Must-watch conversation with @CecileRichards, @alexwagner, and @GovHowardDean on restricting access to birth control: http://t.co/MFrLRwVFKL
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) January 7, 2014
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is an organization with about 800 clinic locations around the country and has a budget of $1 billion - much of which goes toward abortion. Sisters of the Poor is an organization dedicated to the sanctity of life. Who’s really the bigger threat here?
Watch the whole MSNBC segment below:
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