Yes, Fact-Checkers, Democrats Really Support Abortion On Demand Until Birth.
In last night’s debate, several Republicans correctly identified the Democratic Party agenda of abortion on demand for any reason, at any point in pregnancy up until birth.
Leading Democrats’ position is not hard to ascertain, when corporate media actually try. Just watch what happens when they are asked what limits, if any, they would support:
Nevertheless, this truth clearly struck a nerve, as Democrats and their media allies rushed to tell voters not to believe their eyes and ears. Some even used expletives to emphasize their point.
PolitiFact Misinforms…Again
PolitiFact predictably ran cover for the Democrats. First they took issue with a poll conducted for us by Tarrance Group, cited by Vice President Pence, which showed overwhelming support for protecting babies in the womb at least when they can feel pain by 15 weeks.
PolitiFact correctly noted that a Harvard-Harris national survey just days after Dobbs found similar results. They still demand more “independent polls.”
Our polling update yesterday cited NPR, Gallup, and UCLA among others showing that most Americans would limit abortion by three months at the latest.
So-called “independent” polls tend to do a poor job of capturing Americans’ true sentiments. We have never denied this. Some misrepresent pro-life legislation as having zero exceptions. Most do not mention the science on fetal pain, which led a pro-choice international expert to change his views on the subject, or that it is standard practice to provide pain relief not just for mothers but for the child patient during surgery in utero at this age.
We rate these claims “Half True.”
PolitiFact makes several more claims about late-term abortion and the Democrats that are demonstrably false. Let’s take them one by one.
PF Claim #1: Late-Term Abortions Are Rare and Only Occur in Tragic Cases of Dire Necessity.
First, as many others pointed out – including Ramesh Ponnuru in a column that ran earlier on Wednesday at The Washington Post – one percent of 930,160 abortions in the United States [1] equates to some 10,000 children a year killed in abortions.
Ponnuru:
Whether one views that number as large or small likely depends on views of the morality of abortion. When there is general agreement about a social evil, a much lower level of cases is considered enough for elected officials to debate public policy responses.
Each one of these children is an irreplaceable individual who will never see the light. Minimizing the impact on their lives in terms of human suffering and justice denied is no mere semantic exercise – it is callous.
Ponnuru also addressed the second contention about the reasons late-term abortions occur, which is debunked by abortionists themselves:
The fact-checkers also commonly fault Republicans for not offering the context that abortion late in pregnancy, as the AP puts it, “typically happens if the fetus has a low probability of survival.” The AP cites no evidence on this point. A 2013 review found, however, that most abortions done between Weeks 20 and 28 are not “for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” A recent profile of Warren Hern, a doctor who specializes in abortions late in pregnancy, included his estimate that “at least half, and sometimes more, of the women who come to the clinic do not have these diagnoses.”
Indeed, Warren Hern openly admits to killing babies in sex-selection abortions during his decades-long career.
PF Claim # 2: Roe v. Wade Imposed Limits on Late-Term Abortion.
Roe v. Wade did not in any way limit abortion by gestational age. To this day, the United States is one of a handful of countries that allow elective late-term abortion, alongside China and North Korea. The Washington Post’s own fact-checker a few years ago found this to be “surprisingly true.” Today seven states and D.C. have no such limits.
The rub lies in the definition of health, which was described by the Supreme Court as including virtually any reason — “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.” Honest journalists have known for many years that “if a patient’s ‘emotional well-being’ was reason enough to justify an abortion, then any abortion could be justified.”
Ponnuru again:
Verbal sleights of hand such as that one allow politicians to give two messages to two audiences. The general public thinks the candidates are taking a moderate stance compatible with tighter restrictions on abortion in more advanced stages of pregnancy. Activists in favor of liberal abortion laws understand that they will oppose any restrictions.
PF Claim #3: Biden and the Democrats Support Limits on Abortion.
Once again, it is abortionists themselves who burst the Democrats’ bubble.
“[Warren] Hern…believes that the viability of a fetus is determined not by gestational age but by a woman’s willingness to carry it.” – The Atlantic
“There is no particular gestational age. There are some pregnancies in which the fetus will never be viable…My practice includes [abortion] through the point of viability and as we previously discussed that could be at any point.” – Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, during testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Ponnuru:
“[The so-called Women’s Health Protection Act] engages in the same bait-and-switch as Roe. Abortion can be forbidden after viability, it says, unless “the treating health care provider” considers it necessary to protect a patient’s “health.” If that weren’t enough, the proposed law says courts should “liberally construe” its terms.
We rate all three claims “Pants on Fire.”
Republicans Are Right. Democrats Deny.
The Democrat position is full of paradoxes. If elective late-term abortion doesn’t happen, why do they so ferociously oppose legislation that would limit abortion in any way, with exceptions – and even legislation to protect babies born alive in failed abortions? And if abortion is so popular, why are they so defensive?
Never forget the answer provided by their own pollster to the New York Times last November:
The most potent messaging for Democrats was to keep the conversation broad by casting Republicans as supporting a national ban on abortion, and avoid a discussion over the details about gestational week limits.
“Debating weeks is not where we want to be,” said Celinda Lake, the longtime Democratic pollster who conducted some of the surveys. “People are terrible at math and terrible at biology.”
Republicans would be foolish indeed not to point it out to their advantage.
[1] According to the Guttmacher Institute, for 2020.