Elisabeth Hasselbeck returned to The View as if no time had passed, sparring with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar over abortion rights on Wednesday.
Kansas voting to protect abortion rights in the state constitution was a “Hot Topic” — and Hasselbeck, known for her conservative voice when co-hosting from 2003 to 2013, used the popular right-wing argument of making adoption the solution to abortion restrictions.
“I believe our creator assigns value to life, and that those lives have plan and purpose over them as designed by God that are not limited to the circumstances of conception, nor the situations they’re born into,” Hasselbeck began. “But I do think there are options out there. There are thousands of agencies that wrap around women that might not be able to care for the baby once born … that will come around at no cost.”
Referencing her own infertility woes while she was a co-host, Hasselbeck — who shares Grace, 17, and Isaiah, 12, with former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck — acknowledged, “I might not change your minds, but I hope women out there know to look for the nonprofits and … the agencies that help you create a birth plan and match you with an adoptive family who may have suffered miscarriage after miscarriage and may want to care for the baby. I don’t believe in giving women half the information out there.”
Using religion in her response, Goldberg said, “As you know, God doesn’t make mistakes. God made us smart enough to know when it wasn’t going to work for us. That’s the beauty of giving us freedom of choice.”
“No… No,” Hasselbeck replied, eventually hold up an embroidered dishtowel she had brought that read: “I’d agree with you but then we would both be wrong.”
For her part, Behar pointed to the “117,000 children waiting to be adopted right now. It’s not such a snap thing: ‘I’ll have the baby and it’ll be put up for adoption.’ There are other children waiting out there.”
Sara Haines weighed in, talking about how the system often fails children in that position.
Sunny Hostin, who’s against abortion as a Catholic but has resolved not to force her religious beliefs on others, asked Hasselbeck, “What if people don’t believe in your God and you are then taking that decision away from them?”
Hasselbeck insisted, “I don’t force religion,” but then said the decision should be made “according to God.”
“I think oftentimes we get caught in the ‘right’ legislatively,” she said. “Like, we’re getting caught in the law. Just because something is a right, doesn’t make it right. We need to be able to have these conversations about what is really ethical and according to God. I don’t force religion, and I also think sometimes in Christianity we need to offer more mercy.”
There were lighter moments, as well, with Goldberg praising Hasselbeck, saying she had “some of the best conversations” in her time on the show with her.
“It was great to have you, for me, as my first conservative … in terms of having these kinds of conversations,” the moderator said.
Hasselbeck also urged the audience and the co-hosts to try to see things from both sides, saying, “Hold your position in one hand, and your friend in another. If we can’t do that as a society, we’re teaching our kids the wrong way to talk about hard things.”
Hasselbeck was there to celebrate 25 seasons of The View ahead of the season ending. A new season starts in September.
And there will be a new co-host for Season 26. On Thursday, the show is expected to officially announce its new co-host and conservative voice on the show, filling Megan McCain’s spot, vacated last year. According to reports, it will be Alyssa Farah Griffin — former White House Director of Strategic Communications and assistant to former President Trump — taking the seat alongside Goldberg, Behar, Haines and Hostin.
