Partial Truth and the Press

Ramesh Ponnuru has an excellent column on the press and partial-birth abortion at the National Review Online which will give you a taste of his new book, The Party of Death. Although the issue was a disaster for abortion proponents, the press bought and promoted the false representations of NARAL and its allies.

The Los Angeles Times reported that there were only 200 such abortions a year. “Typically, it is used in late pregnancies to save a mother’s life or after the detection of severe fetal abnormalities.” A New York Times story also echoed the abortion lobby’s talking points. USA Today, the New York Daily News, and syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman all repeated the claim that anaesthesia killed the fetus before the scissors made contact. None of these stories even acknowledged that pro-lifers disputed these claims.

All of them were false.