January 31, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson devoted his opening monologue Wednesday evening to Virginia Democrats’ apparent support for infanticide, leading to a firey exchange with a pro-abortion guest who refused to answer questions about the scandal.

Video went viral this week from a subcommittee hearing in which Democrat Del. Kathy Tran takes questions about her bill to repeal any restrictions and regulations on late-term abortions. Republican Del. Todd Gilbert asked how late in the third trimester a physician could perform an abortion and whether that includes when the mother “has physical signs that she is about to give birth.”

“I don’t think we have a limit in the bill […] my bill would allow that, yes,” Tran answered. In a radio interview, Virginia’s Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam also discussed the bill, suggesting that a born-alive “infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired.” He later claimed he was only referring to cases such as a “nonviable pregnancy” or “severe fetal abnormalities.”

Tran’s bill has already been tabled in committee, but the controversy – and the mainstream media’s defensive coverage of it – has sparked a discussion of the extremes to which Democrats and their allies have settled on abortion.

“Abortion at the point of dilation. If you’re confused about what that means, ask anyone who has given birth,” Carlson said of Tran’s comments. “And then think about it for a second. There’s a lot going on, obviously. But just think about that for one second. You may be pro-choice – are you okay with that?”

Moving on to Northam, Carlson said, “the governor of Virginia has just told us in public, on camera, that it’s okay to kill a child after the child has been born. That used to be called infanticide, not rhetorically, but literally infanticide – taking the life of a child who is breathing.”

“Did he misspeak? Well, you’d hope. But no, he didn’t. Ralph Northam is a physician. He is a pediatric neurologist, in fact. He is not some clueless layman who mangled a neutral talking point,” the host pointed out. “This is really what he thinks. This is what his party thinks. No one ever says it, but it’s true. This is the new, moderate pro-choice position. You should know that.”

Later in the episode, Carlson had on Monica Klein, a founding partner of and communications strategist at Seneca Strategies, which “focuses on promoting progressive, diverse and female candidates, non-profits and issue campaigns.”

Carlson began by simply asking for her thoughts on Northam’s comments, but she immediately tried to change the subject to him wanting to “go back to a time where Roe v. Wade was illegal, where women were having back-alley abortions” (which is a long-discredited myth).

“Actually, no, that’s not what I’m arguing, and please don’t be tiresome,” Carlson asked. “The governor of Virginia, who’s a rising star in the Democratic Party, just said this, there’s pending legislation that mirrors it, and I’m asking what you think of it. That’s it. I’m not here to debate Roe v. Wade.”

Yet Klein continued to sidestep the subject entirely, instead responding with general pro-abortion talking points such as “72 percent of Americans support the right to choose” and that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is a “sexual predator” (both of which are false).

“This isn’t about babies, this is about healthcare, this is about you attempting to control women’s bodies,” she claimed.

“Okay, please don’t be a robot, Monica, you’re smarter than that,” an agitated Carlson tried again. “This is the governor of Virginia just saying this, I just want to know what you think of it. Is that okay? Does that bother you? It’s a sincere question. It just happened!”

“Okay, it bothers me that you are attempting to control women’s bodies,” she responded.

“I wonder if you think you’re convincing anybody, or if your unwillingness to address what just happened today on tape, that we just played, is a sign that you can’t defend this,” Carlson replied. “And if you can’t defend it I wonder why that is. Have you paused to ask yourself as an American, as a person, what about as a woman, what do you think of that?”

Klein shot back by repeating the “control women’s bodies” talking point, and declaring, “you as a man should not have a single say in that.” Carlson expressed bewilderment that she could think she’s “making a case that most people agree with, that it’s okay to abort a child in the third trimester.”

“Tucker, you can keep trying to put words in my mouth and keep trying to say that the Democratic Party is hurting children,” she responded, “but your party is the one that is tearing families apart” via the Trump administration’s immigration policies. “So whose party is actually hurting children?”

“Let me just ask you one quick question, I mean, this is obviously a pointless conversation, and I think less of you after it,” Carlson said. “It’s an honest question: have you ever thought about it, do you have a real answer to what the governor of Virginia said, or are you gonna throw yet another talking point at me? Have you actually thought about it, will you answer that question?”

“I already think less of you,” Klein shot back, before repeating the same talking points. “I’m sorry that as a man what you’re focused on is controlling women’s bodies, but we will not allow you to do that.”

“This is a child who’s been born, this is not a woman’s body, this is an independent person,” Carlson pointed out, to which Klein simply accused him of “preted[ing] that you have concerns over children,” citing immigration once again. After that, Carlson ended the segment.

Pro-abortion activists do not appear to see the irony in their complaining about “tearing” children away from illegal immigrant parents when abortions literally tear children out of and away from their mothers forever.

The exchange has gone viral online, with most reactions falling along ideological lines. The Huffington Post’s Ed Mazza claimed Klein “put [Carlson] on notice right out of the gate,” though he didn’t explain how.

“She wouldn’t answer. Because she couldn’t answer. Because as a pro-choice diplomat, if you cede ground on one area, you must cede ground on others. Apparently,” Louder with Crowder’s Courtney Kirchoff wrote. “I guess it’s too much for Monica Klein, and other pro-abortionists, to admit that yeah, killing a born baby is bad. Let that sink in.”

Klein herself appears pleased with her performance, tweeting several favorable reviews and dismissing her critics as “trolls.”