Here's Why Host Whoopi Goldberg Had to Re-Read the Hot Topic Headline on 'The View'

'Wait, what did you say?' expressed The View audience and the co-hosts as they completely lost host Whoopi Goldberg who read out the second Hot Topic headline for the show. Losing her own train of thought, the Sister Act star was forced to repeat her lines so the panel could begin with the discussion. 

As the host welcomed the audience after a commercial break, she read out a lengthy headline regarding reproductive rights in the United States. However, somewhere in between, the crowd and her co-panelists became increasingly puzzled and Goldberg noticed their confused reactions, per Decider. 

The headline read, "As concerns grow over U.S. reproductive rights, a circuit court just ruled that a Texas law which requires parental consent before a minor can get birth control somehow does not conflict with federal guidelines that gives [sic] minors confidential access to it." Moderator Joy Behar could be heard taking a deep sigh in the background and saying, "Huh?!!" a couple of times. 

Goldberg realized she'd need to clear the confusion. So she asked, "Does this make any sense to you?" The studio and her co-hosts collectively replied, "No." The comedian admitted, "OK, you wanna hear it one more time? Because it is confusing," and asked for a re-take of the headline segment. 

"Re-roll, please," requested Goldberg. Meanwhile, the lawyer in the room, Sunny Hostin, tried to simplify the Hot Topic, "Federal law usually trumps state law, every time." The 68-year-old agreed, "That's what this is about," and re-read the whole thing when moderator Joy Behar interjected to come straight to the point. 

"So can you get it or can't you?" asked Behar. Hostin explained, "Not without parental consent." Further in the discussion, the panelists discussed if it'd really stop teenagers from having sex as the 81-year-old questioned, "So they think in Texas that if you are not allowed as a 16-year-old to get birth control that you won't have sex? That's their thinking. I have news for you." 

Concerning the law, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans upheld a Texas law requiring family clinics to notify parents if their minors seek birth control and get their consent, per Reuters. Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan of the 5th Circuit clarified on Tuesday, March 12, that the federal and state laws are not necessarily contradicting. 

He wrote, "Title X's goal (encouraging family participation in teens' receiving family planning services) is not undermined by Texas's goal (empowering parents to consent to their teen's receiving contraceptives)," adding, "To the contrary, the two laws reinforce each other." 

Ahead on the talk show, journalist Sara Haines shared her viewpoint, "When I tend to think of these birth controls as safety nets, so you're not gonna control your child and what they ultimately do. I would think I failed as a parent if they didn't come to me because I grew up in a time when I couldn't go to my parents." 

Behar, as always, interrupted with her quirkiness and joked, "Did they do this during, like, Tony Bennett concerts? Hand out condoms?" Goldberg quipped, "Most of us were born to Tony Bennett," and the table let out a laugh.