Fake news? Media fails at ‘fact checking’ on Trump’s SOTU abortion remarks

Abortion comments made during the President’s State of the Union address resulted in media “fact checkers” claiming the statements were “false.” In actuality, however, the media distorted facts and left out important information in order to claim Trump’s statements were false. The biggest offender being NBC News. Trump’s comments came on the heels of New York and Virginia’s efforts (with assistance and support from Planned Parenthood) to pass measures to expand abortion at a time in pregnancy when the child can survive outside the womb. The President said, in part, “There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.” (See video here.) NBC News claimed “This is false.”

They’re wrong.

NBC News’ wholly inaccurate “fact check” states, “The state recently passed a law loosening restrictions on abortions in the state, allowing abortions after 24 weeks if the fetus is not viable or when it’s necessary to protect the life of the mother. The president paints the picture of a healthy mother and child, but an abortion would not be legal in that scenario after 24 weeks in New York state.”

Here’s the truth:

• NBC left out the fact that the full language of the New York bill states that late-term abortions can be performed to not only protect the patient’s life, but “health.”
• This “health” terminology is not new, and it is purposeful. It comes from the extremely broad language of Roe v. Wade’s companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, which ensures that abortion can be done for virtually any reason. The text of Doe reads: “We agree with the District Court, 319 F. Supp., at 1058, that the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors – physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age – relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health….”
• In addition, NY’s law also removed protections that had been in place for babies born alive after an abortion — meaning they could be left to die after birth. The law did this by rescinding a portion of NY’s public health law, seen below.

READ: Abortionists admit that third trimester abortions are done on healthy babies

Live Action immediately called out NBC News on Twitter, yet an updated NBC post repeated the false claim again.

Unlike NBC News, “fact-checkers” such as Factcheck.org and New York Times included the term “health” but failed to define what it meant.

NPR’s “fact check” also didn’t go well. NPR dismissed Trump’s claim that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam supported infanticide after his poor attempt to defend Virginia’s bill on a radio show as false. In addition:

• NPR quoted Planned Parenthood’s former “special affiliate,” the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute in stating, “[O]nly about 1 percent of abortions take place after 21 weeks of gestation, which is still the second trimester. Third-trimester abortions are exceedingly rare and usually happen only when the fetus is not viable.”
• Using just the 1% figure (which sounds minuscule), out of an estimated 100,000 abortions that occur after the first trimester, approximately 12,000 took place after 21 weeks of pregnancy in 2014 alone  Note: there are no federal requirements to report abortions by gestation. In addition, abortionists have publicly admitted that late-term procedures are done on healthy babies. And why do these late-term abortions happen? According to this study published by Guttmacher, “Most women seeking later abortion fit at least one of five profiles: They were raising children alone, were depressed or using illicit substances, were in conflict with a male partner or experiencing domestic violence, had trouble deciding and then had access problems, or were young and nulliparous.

Rare doesn’t mean non-existent, and claiming something doesn’t “usually” take place doesn’t rule out what these abortionists and study from a pro-abortion source have stated. If the abortionists themselves — and the women having abortions — are admitting that YES, these abortions are happening on healthy children, then the media must have another reason for cherrypicking their information from the scripts of the abortion industry.

READ: Unreal: Abortion advocate says late-term abortion done on ‘dead fetuses’

Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran even admitted her failed measure allowed for abortion even after a woman goes into labor.  Tran discussed her bill with VA’s House Majority Leader, and was asked if the bill would allow abortion even at 40 weeks, when the mother was already dilating and showing signs of being in labor.

Tran replied, “My bill would allow that, yes.”

 

As for the Washington Post’s “fact check,” well, it’s misleading, too, It…

• Left out the broad definition of “health.”
• Failed to mention Delegate Tran’s previously quoted admission that abortions could be committed up to birth.
• Failed to clearly detail how Virginia permitted third trimester abortions, writing “Now, all but seven states have prohibitions on gestational limits, from 20 to 24 weeks, or the point of “viability.”

WashPo then stated in part (image below):

And Time’s “fact check” was inaccurate, too. It…

• Failed to explain that “health” is broadly defined.
• Quoted unnamed “medical experts,” failing to state any of these experts’ associations with the abortion industry.
• Quoted Dr. Daniel Grossman, an abortionist who publishes research under the guise of impartiality, “Performing an abortion moments before birth doesn’t make any sense from a medical perspective.” Grossman’s own testimony revealed that he is a consultant to Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific and serves as a liaison member of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America National Medical Committee. Grossman is currently conducting clinical trials on abortion pills – including using Mifeprex in advance of a potential unintended pregnancy. 
• Discounted evidence the baby feels pain at 20 weeks gestation, linking to one study from 2005 instead of more recent studies such as those referenced by the Lozier Institute.

 

The media has a history of failing to accurately research abortion, citing only abortion industry data. Live Action News has documented how the media has been caught in a web of lies, spouting talking points from the largest abortion vendor in the U.S. and failing to investigate pro-life claims. Journalists who turn a blind eye to the abuses of the abortion industry — and especially Planned Parenthood — are awarded and extolled by the abortion giant, which kills 912 babies a day while receiving half a billion in taxpayer dollars every single year.

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