The Fox News talk show The Five got extra rancorous this week in the aftermath of comments made by RFK Jr., the Democratic candidate for President. Kennedy’s controversial rhetoric about vaccines, followed by congressional testimony in which he seemed to contradict his vaccine stances, were roundly criticized by Five panelist Jessica Tarlov.
(NOTE: Kennedy further alienated detractors recently when leaked video showed the Democratic presidential longshot expressing what some interpreted as antisemitic and Sinophobic views on COVID’s “design.”)
Fellow Five panelist Jesse Watters — Tucker Carlson‘s nighttime replacement on Fox — took issue with what he considered Tarlov’s undue attention to Kennedy statements, saying her furor was incommensurate with Kennedy’s actions.
“Why do you care?” Watters asks Tarlov repeatedly in the segment (video below). “So what? So what?” Watters repeats.
Admitting his own children are vaccinated, Watters nevertheless emphasizes that Kennedy has a right to do what he wants with his own health and wonders again why Tarlov is disturbed by Kennedy’s choices. Then in defense of Kennedy’s right to bodily autonomy, Watters issues this sentence:
“You can do whatever you want with your body, you can do whatever you want with your kid’s body, your doctor can decide with you what to do with your body.”
Tarlov, listening intently, is stunned by Watters encapsulation and says plainly: “You’re advocating for Roe.”
Watters: It's actually kind of weird that you're so upset about what one Democrat thinks about vaccines. You can do whatever you want with your body and your doctor can decide with you what to do with your body.
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 20, 2023
Jessica: You’re advocating for Roe pic.twitter.com/RQAtXQcIVP
Tarlov might also have claimed that by the logic Watters presents — asserting parental authority over their “kid’s bodies” — Watters’s also advocates for gender-affirming care for youth, undertaken with doctors’ supervision and parental support and approval.
It took Watters just once sentence — “You can do whatever you want with your body, you can do whatever you want with your kid’s body, your doctor can decide with you what to do with your body.” — to succinctly underscore the logic used by advocates in favor of both the right to abortion and the right to youth gender-affirming care based on individual autonomy and the primacy of the parental prerogative.
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