Jen Psaki praised for response to male reporter's repeated questions about abortion

vt-author-image

By stefan armitage

Article saved!Article saved!

Jen Psaki has been praised online for her responses to a male reporter's questions about abortion.

The White House Press Secretary was repeatedly questioned by a male reporter during a press conference on Thursday following Texas' decision to introduce controversial abortion law.

As reported by CNBC, President Joe Biden has blasted the decision as an "unprecedented assault" on women’s rights, after Supreme Court justices rejected efforts by abortion-rights advocates to prevent the restrictive abortion law from taking effect.

The law makes most abortions illegal following six weeks of pregnancy and allows private citizens to file lawsuits against abortion providers.

In the fallout from the law being passed, Psaki was asked by Owen Jensen from the Eternal Word Television Network on Thursday: "Why does the president support abortion when his own Catholic faith teaches abortion is morally wrong?"

To which Psaki responded: "Well, he believes that it's a woman's right, it's a woman's body, and it's her choice."

Jensen then quickly fired back at Psaki, asking: "Who does he believe, then, should look out for the unborn child?"

Psaki then said: "[Biden] believes that it's up to a woman to make those decisions and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor.

"I know you've never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant. But for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing. The President believes that their right should be respected."

Once Psaki had finished her answer, Jensen can be heard attempting to continue his questioning, causing the White House Press Secretary to say:  "I think we've got to move on. I think we have to move on - you've had plenty of time today."

Psaki's calm answering of the questions led to an outpouring of praise on social media, with columnist David Weissman tweeting: "Awesome response from Press Secretary Jen Psaki on President Biden’s support for Women’s rights while being Catholic."

In a damning statement from President Biden, he described the laws as "an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for almost fifty years".

Biden's statement added: "This law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest.

"And it not only empowers complete strangers to inject themselves into the most private of decisions made by a woman—it actually incentivizes them to do so with the prospect of $10,000 if they win their case."

Featured image credit: UPI / Alamy