Conservative blogger and Fox commentator, Erick Ericson tweeted a message comparing Texas state Senator Wendy Davis to a Barbie Doll on Tuesday afternoon about choice advocate Wendy Davis. Ericson attempts to undermine an interview by Davis, stating “It is a bit embarrassing that Abortion Barbie doesn’t even have her facts straight on Kermit Gosnell considering abortion is her issue.”
Ericson is referring to an interview in which Senator Davis refused to answer a question by the Weekly Standard comparing abortions after 23 weeks to the recent case of Kermit Gosnell, and incorrectly stated that Gosnell’s clinic was an ambulatory surgical center. Senator Davis was referring to the fact that Gosnell’s crimes were not related to his clinic, and there is a separate issue not comparable to the new requirement that all Texas abortion clinics obtain ambulatory surgical center licenses.
Ericson has a long history of anti-woman rhetoric. While working as a CNN correspondent in 2012 he favored the idea of banning women from the Master’s Golf Tournament stating, “I don’t want to hang out at some women’s event!” The same year he referred to the all female speakers panel at the Democratic National Convention as “The Vagina Monologues”. This May Ericson stated in his blog and on air that the increasing trend of women as familial bread winners is “hurting our children, and its going to have an impact for generations to come.”
Media Resources: Salon 8/6/2013; Media Matters 8/6/2013; Think Progress 8/6/2013, 7/12/2013
