‘Don’t Patronize Us’: NFL Star Benjamin Watson Calls out Alyssa Milano Over Abortion Comments

Alyssa Milano attends VH1 Trailblazer Honors at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 20, 2019. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

NFL player Benjamin Watson has called out actress and activist Alyssa Milano over her claims that banning abortion would be “catastrophic” for women of color.

In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo last week, Milano asserted that laws restricting abortions “will affect the communities of color more than anything.”

“I feel like any woman of privilege that lives in one of these states, if this goes through, they’re gonna be able to travel to a state to get a safe, uh, reproductive health care. But for the women of color, for the women that are marginalized, for the women that are low-income communities, for the women that are most at-risk, these bills are going to be catastrophic,” she added.

Watson took to Twitter to react to Milano’s remarks, describing them as coming out of “ignorance, racism, or some combination of both.”

“Alyssa_Milano to claim that giving MORE children of color the right to be born will negatively affect ‘women of color’ reveals IGNORANCE, RACISM or some combination of both. Our children and families are capable of greatness and lies like this harm our future,” he said on May 19.

He also called on Milano to stop patronizing people of color.

In response to Watson’s comments, Milano said that she “never meant harm.”

“I see you and never meant harm. My hope is to stand in solidarity with all women as we fight for reproductive justice and true equality,” Milano said.

She added that she was open to having a further discussion with Watson, something he accepted.

Watson, a vocal pro-life advocate, has previously criticized New York lawmakers for passing an abortion law that allows mothers to abort their unborn child up until birth if her life or health is at stake. After the bill passed, lawmakers cheered for about 20 seconds before a pro-life protestor could be heard yelling, “May almighty God have mercy on the state of New York.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also celebrated the signing by ordering the spire of the One World Trade Center and other buildings in the city to be lit up in pink.

“I watched in horror as many of you did as New York legislators cheered—like they were at the Super Bowl—when the bill passed to allow [the killing of babies] up until birth,” Watson said during CPAC, reported the Daily Wire.

“I watched that in horror. Sixty million have been killed since Roe v. Wade,” he added.

“Family is a gift, ordained by our creator. It should be cherished, not mocked; upheld, not ridiculed; held together, not torn apart. The strength of our families will ensure our future, or it will condemn it,” he also told the audience.

In 2016, Watson said in an interview that he thinks the goal of Planned Parenthood was the “exterminate” African-Americans.

“I do know that blacks kind of represent a large portion of the abortions, and I do know that honestly the whole idea with Planned Parenthood and [founder Margaret] Sanger in the past was to exterminate blacks, and it’s kind of ironic that it’s working. We (as minorities) support candidates, and overwhelmingly support the idea of having Planned Parenthood and the like, and yet, that is why she created it,” Watson said.

“It’s just amazing to me and abortion saddens me period, but it seems to be something that is really pushed on minorities and provided to minorities especially as something that they should do. In the public, it seems to be painted that when minorities get pregnant they need to get abortions, especially when it comes to teen pregnancy.”

According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 40 percent of reported legal abortions in the United States were obtained by black women in 2015.