and roe v. wade of course many think we are one vote away from possibly undoing roe v. wade. as a privacy pertinent sinned and someone who has rightly so, talking about privacy is not something you hope to the antiquated notion of physical invasions of this sort but who are maybe not dignity but autonomy, would you reconsider and 2012 whether roe was a good idea or of a work of other liberties or put another way, if roe goes what happens? >> fascinating question. i've long been that odd word, the ardent pro-choice skeptic with row. a fierce supporter of the right to choose but when roe was decided in 1973 and left public opinion not in its protection of early term choice but its refusal to allow the regulation of later term abortions and i do say it's in the book you read but the casey decision not to 92 more precisely spreads the sentiment of a moderate majority of the country. here is the protecting early term choice and allowing the restriction of later term choice and the polls since then have suggested to the thirds of the country is protected the right to choose early o

herely -- is was in there but not nearly so prom inept -- >> i think he is refer the fact that roe v. wade was 1973, so the year after you -- >> i think roe v. wade was something that came out of the same changed climate. some of what happened -- you know, it goes into a lot of different ears, and judges and so on have ears, too, and when things are going on around us, we all take some of it in, whether we realize or not. so i think roe v. wade came right out of that climate, and the debate goes on. that's about all i can say about that. >> we're going to -- >> can i say something about susan b. anthony? >> okay. >> there was susan b. anthony story. >> some women's groups wanted to give the white house a bust of sues an b anthony. there's a bust of her in the capitol. so they had a copy made in bronze, which is very severe looking, and she -- well, she was, i but she was effective. and between the time she arrived and we could get a presentation arranged with mrs. nixon, she sat in my office, my closet, on the third floor of the old d.o.d., and on the dead of night on occasion she would la

it could have the effect on the left that roe v. wade in striking out abortion laws in radicalizing and energizing the religious right. >> the losing side has the energy. if it is upheld, it becomes a galvanizing issue for republicans going into the election. if it is overturned, i think it becomes an organizing principle for the democrats and for president obama. the court has suffered -- on nina's point on john roberts, the court has suffered as an institution. it has gone from 61% approval down to 46, following the citizens united case, where 80% of americans think it is the wrong thing to have unlimited money in american politics. >> remember franklin delano roosevelt had the new deal plan, and the supreme court at that time struck down many provisions. to its own chagrin, because the public was galvanized around puerto rico. -- was galvanized around fdr. i am not sure this would be a defeat for barack obama if they capt. to strike down in this health care law. >> fdr also tried to stack the court. >> i did not want to get to that. >

use foia policies, patterns or practices that are in violation of foia, and it was along of the roe v. wade standard of capable of repetition yet evading review, because what would happen would b -- in payn foia officials would deny information, and the people reversed on appeal and then file another request and the analyst would deny the information, they'd appeal and it would be reversed oppthis over and over again, and so the idea was, if you have evidence that an agency something that is against foia, the court has unlimited equitable authority to stop that, and so a client of mine, greg mudded, who was an author in the uk, was writing a book about the u.s. and uk's involvement in the development of the iraqi oil law, for how oil contracts would whatnot. and one of the things that he ran into at the state department was that, even though the 2007 law open government act said, upon shall give requesters estimated dates of completion. the state department was saying we are sorry, we will not give you an estimated date of completion and they said that very consistently and they said it to

senate, and the presidency, a row court struck it down to it could have an effect on the left that roe v. wade, and striking out all the abortion laws, had in radicalizing the religious right. >> the losing side has the energy. it is of help, it becomes, i think, -- if it is is upheld, it becomes, i think, a galvanizing issue for republicans. if it is overturned, it becomes an organizing principle for the democrats and president obama -- what are we going to do, that is what they have done. on nina's point about john roberts, the court has suffered as an institution. it has gone from 61% approval down to 46, following the citizens united case, where 89% of americans think it is the monti to have unlimited money in american politics -- it is the wrong thing to have unlimited money in american politics. >> we have been down this road before. the supreme court struck down provisions. to its own chagrin, the public was galvanized around fdr, and eventually those programs -- social security. i am not sure this is a defeat for barack obama it they happen to strike down this health-care law. >> fdr a

ultrasound requirements in an age, what, 40 years after roe v. wade.'t this another way to punish people having chosen to have an abortion? >> i can't speak to motivation of legislators who are pushing for this in harrisburg or the governor who is supporting it and really was pretty offensive when he said, look, women can just look the other way when this invasive procedure and unnecessary one at that is being done to them. it's pretty insensitive and outrageous. all you can say is they're ignoring the real concerns that women and men have, which is access to healthcare, access to women's health services that includes pap smears, mammograms, and full gynecological examinations and contraception. and it's pretty off the charts in terms of what really most men and women in this country are thinking about, which is i want access to my health care that i need, and honestly, we're really interested in the economy and jobs, and thank you lily ledbetter for stepping up and the concerns that so many of us have. we ought to be meeting those challenges and inste

thousand nine hundred ninety two when it looked like the supreme court was on the verge of overturning roe v wade there was a kind of reignited reproductive rights abortion rights movement. clinton wholeheartedly embrace. portion rights even brace gay rights in that election meanwhile the republicans went down this rather whole kind of holy war with pat robertson and pat buchanan and you know the last true republican moderate ran on you know a culture war platform george h.w. bush so we see this pattern of republican every which stimulates a kind of popular. uprising not uprising that's too strong but popular movement against it which tends to benefit the democrats in elections but once every but once the momentary hysteria dies out they don't people tend to forget that this is always under the surface i've i've lived in europe and spent a fair amount of time there i was in sweden a few weeks ago or be in germany in a few weeks. and have been doing so for thirty years going back and forth a lot and while i see these some elements of this in the u.k. and i suspect we can trace a lot of this back t

. >> he was dipping his toe in the waters talking about the anticommunist theme with roe v wade, worked with and the dead plant on the gay lesbian referendum. 1979 a group of republican and operatives went to manage berg you need to galvanize your base. he thought the people were not ready for this and would react bad the. teaching the spirituality the church should the be involved morrow reformation. good discussion between faith and work but a direct response to the gospel movement but justice is a part of an ad and it was formed and 1965 he gave his ministers speech they came armed with a poll that showed the fundamentalist community were chomping at the bit and they felt the shared moral discourse and had them fly under the radar screen was attacked they could not be protected in the ghetto as the churches, schools, and the university could no longer protect themself so they had to get politically involved and of course, it went into reshaping the entire culture >> host: talk about the bob jones case to galvanize. >> that was forming after the moral majority. the ira's decision prec

for example, in 1973, when roe v. wade went through the supreme court, the polling on -- the public polling on whether or not a woman could have an abortion in the first trimester was at 53%. it was at 53%. i don't need to go through everything that has happened since then in defending roe and defending everything else that has to do with freedom for our own bodies. as many of you know, we have a number of legal cases that are specifically on marriage equality that are barreling towards the supreme court. barreling towards the supreme court. a number of them may get there very soon, within the next couple of years. the polling on marriage right now is at 53%. familiar, hmmm? so it is amazing, right. ten years ago we weren't even close to 53%. but it's a cautionary tale. and as i sit here with you today, and fight on the lines with you, in virginia, where they are taking away public funding for access to health services for women, and in places across the country, 40 years later, after roe went through the supreme court and

>> if they didn't look at public opinion, roe v. wade would be overturned? e case law. if they weren't concerned about where america was politically on the issue of abortion, there's a possibility that roe v. wade would have been overturned. they made reference that overturning it would have had. i'm saying in this case, these polls actually do matter. there are justices that actually -- some do what the law says and stay focused on that. others are more pragmatic and political. >> i think it's basically right. what they really focus on is the relationship between congress and the president and the sort of separation of powers issues. they would rather have these things settled by the political process. >> right. >> this is a huge matter of policy. generally speaking, they would rather have it decided by the political system. the government that we elect rather than the court. >> my gut especially when you know the campaign itself is going to be about this. you know the republican -- i mean mitch mcconnell said if he gets the senate majority, he is going to,

you see, even in think aerltly '70s before roe v. waded, before legal abortion was a political issue in this country, there were running campaigns against the idea that women should work and be outside of the home and have equal pay. like uppity women. they were ort of against it. i think that's the seeds of it, not abortion. although obviously the religious right would rise and abortion would be a big issue, too. >> frank rich, wrifr wrir at large for "new york magazine." reading you exploring the roots of this and hearing you talk about it here makes me feel like we are on to something and being puzzled by this, but i'm still puzzled by it. i feel hike this is one of those things that requires more work. >> i agree. >> frank, thanks very much. >> thank you for having me, rachel. >>> right after the show, this is big news, on the last word with lawrence o'donnell, his guest tonight is the lawyer for george zimmerman, the lawyer for the man who's alleged to have shot trayvon martin. so you will not want to miss that. and here, the new iss

he came of age right after the roe v wade. this culture war took place where clear channel has these owned and operated rural stations where they are piping in right wing radio all day long. he's speaking to older and male and isn't in the modern world. he's also speaking to these terrified republicans who don't have the guts to stand up to him because they are afraid that base will erupt against them and vote against them. >> do you think rush limbaugh has given us a poison pill for him to be too difficult to swallow. >> i think his weapon, which has been his mouth, what proves fatal to him. this is too far especially when you contrast his deplorable comments with the class and measured response of sandra fluke and the class of the president calling her to support her, that's where the contrast comes in and people say, that's it. we're done. >> thank you so much for joining us. just to let viewers know. krystal will be on dylan's show in the next hour. >>> next, rick santorum's mad and he's not going to take it anymore. stay

we live in a country who has seen more than 50 million abortions since roe v. wade. will you lead our nation back to god? >> it is important -- there has been a lot of criticism of me in the press because i'm very public about my christian faith. one of my favorite sayings is preached the gospel, and if you have to, speak. part of what your response bleak is as a public figure is to go out and they in a way that is consistent with what you profess to believe in it. that is very important. one of the reasons i got so upset about the way the administration has dealt with the hhs, in which the obama administration tried to enforce a religious organization to higher a minister that did not believe in the faith they were being hired to surge. a remarkable thing, a discrimination to hire somebody according to that obama administration, not her somebody that as a minister if they did not believe in the tenets of the church. that is the kind of extreme we are going to. we have to have a president that goes out and articulate a vision that is not just as this president does,

my father was an abortion provider in washington even before row roe v. waderather regularly picketed and attacked when i was a kid. in the early 80s his clinic was fire bombed. this is not a new argument for me to join in and fight back against. as a child i just let my parents do it. when they came after me and i had my own family to protect, i had to do something. >> what was notable about what you have done in the grand tradition of being modulated and peaceful. what you have done is turned back the strategy of simply saying you want to call me, i will call you but the nature of the phone calls is made is quite remarkable. tell us about it and what the instructions are about the calls that would be made. >> first of all i don't understand why it's such a remarkable thing. it's a strategy that i learned on the kindergarten playground. if you hit me, i'm going to hit you back. these people, when they came after me, they tried very hard to incite some sort of violence amongst the people who are there that they're protesting against. it would have been very ea

many democrats believe these state fights could end up challenging roe v. wade. ica look like without roe? only seven states would protect abortion rights and 24 would make or have the intent to make abortion illegal. this is what that would look like. ohio state senator nina turner scoffs at this picture saying what's good for the goose is good for the gander. her bill says that men wanting viagra should be seen by a sex therapist. >>> i'm joined by the host of "now by alex wagner". good morning to you both. alex, 1,170 bills potentially by year's end. what do you make of this? >> it's staggering, chris, because i think we have gone from the debate over abortion which as you know has been incredibly heated to an argument over a real -- i use the word war because i think if you look at what's happening in the state houses across the country a war on women's health. we are talking about defunding not just planned parenthood, but organizations that provide abortions. cl clinics that offer breast exams and they're under assault in state houses pause that i -- it's al

. >> glor why allred speaking out for the woman known as jane roe 16 years after roe v. wade., you went to mexico on a vacation. you met a doctor. and a long, horrible story short, he took you back to a motel room and at gun point he raped you. and he made you pregnant. and you then had to have an illegal abortion which nearly killed you. a real life defining moment, i would imagine. tell me about that experience and tell me how much of a motivating factor that's been in turning you into this crusading campaigning woman, particularly for issues like abortion rights and so on. >> well, most women, including myself, are feminists because of their own life experiences. in other words, i never had a women's studies class, i wish i had. but i'm a person would strongly believes in fighting against violence against women and the right to choose legal and safe and available abortions because of my own life experience. and because i had trouble collecting child support. i think there should be better child support laws to make it easier for the single moms to support their children so

the issue of -- the power of the president to appoint a supreme court justice resonate far beyond roe v. wade and abortion. it will mainstream that issue. whatever side, quote unquote, loses this, we'll see a surge in the base. but given the pain the democrats went through in 2010, the elimination of the blue dogs virtually because of the cost of carrying this piece of legislation across the finish line that, would all be for naught and a disaster for the administration. >> let me try to explain. what's going to happen is no matter what, health care costs will escalate. 20 out of 100 people are 65 or over. every time somebody loses their insurance because of pre-existing condition, every time they go up, go see scalia, he'll take care of you. and the democrats will say we tried. we had this in place. we had addressed this problem at great political cost to ourselves and at great courage. five people on the supreme court substituted their judgment. everything that happens in health care from the day that they strike this down is all going to be on the republicans and the supreme court's doorst

live in a country that has seen over 50 million abortions since roe v. wade became law. how would you like lankan lead our nation back to god? -- lincoln, lead our nation back to god? >> that is a very powerful and important question. first of all,you have to have a president that believes that is part of their responsibility, something which obama does not. you have to have a president that is prepared to pray. i had a project to have franklin delano roosevelt's d- day prayer. when we landed in normandy, franklin roosevelt went on national radio and 46 and a half minutes he prayed. -- for 6 and a half minutes, he prayed. he did not say god bless america. he said, would you join me in prayer? the country joined the commander in chief in pricing. -- prayeing. it is powerful and poignant. we have to center the country around this. we have to bring the federal judges back into enforcing the constitution, not rewriting it. part of what makes my campaign different, we have a 54-page document on the founding fathers and the judiciary that wound up -- outlined step-by-step how

we first saw it towards the tail end of the nixon administration, before roe v. wade was decided or abortion was an issue, and nixon, who was generally progressive about women's issues suddenly vetoed a child care bill on part of the grounds that women shouldn't be working. that they were sort of -- should stay at home with their guy. and it was -- i think it was a deliberate intent in those days of the gop to exploit the backlash against the feminist movement in the same way they used the southern strategy at the same time to exploit the black -- the backlash against the african-american civil rights movement. ever since then -- >> that was kind of dumb, wasn't it? >> yeah. >> let me ask you with about reagan, because i think we both agree that reagan was the first one to really display about people how reacted to him. an eight-point differential between how women and men viewed him. >> it was kind of counterintuitive, because reagan was such a genial guy, but by hen the religious right was beginning to get a stranglehold. abortion and choice was becoming more of an

we first saw it toward the tail end of the nixon administration, before roe v. wadetion was an issue, and nixon, who was generally progressive about women's issues, suddenly vetoed a childcare bill in part on the grounds that women shouldn't be working, that they were sort of -- should stay at home with their guy, and it was, i think a deliberate attempt in those days of the gop to exploit the backlash against the feminist movement the same way they used the southern strategy at the same time to exploit the backlash against the african-american civil rights movement. ever since then -- >> let me ask you about reagan because i know, i think we both agree that reagan was really the first one to really display the way people reacted to him. something like eight-point differential between how women voters reacted to reagan's candidacy and how men did. what do you think was there? >> well, you know, it's sort of counterintuitive because reagan was such a genial guy and seemed to, we think would appeal to both genders equally, but i think by then the religious right was be

i think the energy in "roe v. wade" was on the losing side. that's been kept alive-- that led to an entire movement-- the pro-life/antiabortion movement. and in part because it was seen that the court interrupted what had been the legislative and political process. and that this would be a case of the court for the first time in, what, 70 years, overturning a legislative act of this nature. >> woodruff: one other thing i want to ask you about, we're on the edge of our seats on this, and that budget. the house, mark overwhelmingly rejected the president's budget proposal, and they turned around and passed, along party lines, david, the paul ryan budget. what-- what is-- not a shock that this happened. but what's the next step here? what happens? >> we have an election. >> woodruff: does it matter? it's march. >> we have an election. we wait until december, the cat-- when bad fiscal things happen all at once. i give ryan credit. i don't agree with all part of it but he's taken a step forward. one of the saddest things this week, jim cooper and o

rights that we have fought for and won, many years ago, and it's all headed towards trying to repeal roe v. wadeot fooled by this. but, you know, even though i was on the losing side of this issue, i've got to tell you that there was a silver lining in this defeat, because it has galvanized women all across the commonwealth of virginia, and all across the united states. we're getting calls in from everywhere, where women are united and they are going to push back. >> it has also galvanized doctor's associations, the american medical association is against this, the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists, the american women's medical association. i want people to hear your colleague, the only physician in the senate working with you there. he called the bill unethical. i want to let the audience hear what he had to say yesterday. >> it's telling me, it's telling my colleagues how to practice medicine. we do not need as a group of physicians, non-physician legislators dictating to us how to practice medicine. >> senator lucas, what is the republican answer to that? these republicans a