Washington, DC — The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has released a memo that raises important questions about some recent news coverage regarding Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court, and partial-birth abortion.
The memo to editors and reporters, titled “Revival of some old myths about Roe v. Wade and partial-birth abortion,” was written by Douglas Johnson, NRLC's longtime legislative director. It is intended to be of benefit to journalists who cover abortion-related stories whether occasionally or on a regular basis.
In 1981, Associated Press Executive Editor Louis D. Boccardi wrote regarding Roe v. Wade: “The decision is often misreported, even now. . . . Thus, it's wrong to say only that the court approved abortion in the first three months.” Mr. Boccardi was right, and the Supreme Court itself repeatedly has repudiated the notion that the “right” to obtain an abortion for any reason applies only in the first trimester.
Yet, here are just some of the major media outlets that, within the past month, have described Roe as having created a right to abortion in the first three months of pregnancy: The Washington Post, ABC News, CNN, the Washington Times, and Time magazine.
The memo discusses whether they really are all that wrong, and why it matters.
The memo also discusses the “very elastic concept” of Roe that apparently lurks in the minds of some journalists and pollsters. In a January Gallup poll, 70% of respondents said they favored a ban on the partial-birth abortion method in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Are they all opponents of Roe v. Wade? If one's answer is “no,” then the Supreme Court is NOT split 5-to-4 on keeping abortion legal, notwithstanding recent claims to the contrary by Time magazine, the Associated Press, Fox News Channel, and numerous other news outlets. The memo discusses how this “elastic” treatment of Roe distorts public debate on the issue.
Speaking of the partial-birth abortion method, is it really “rarely used” (Washington Post, January 28), “rarely performed” (AP, January 30)? Is it “usually performed in cases when the mother's life is threatened or the fetus is deformed” (Gannett News Service, December 17, 2002)? You may be surprised at the identities of some of the people who have refuted such claims.
The memo can be read on the NRLC website, and can be downloaded there in Microsoft Word, PDF, or HTML formats. Documents in which The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press acknowledge that the “first three months” characterization is wrong are also posted there.
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)
