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The Abortion War: Pro-Life Majority Keeps Issue Alive
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20694 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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9 / 1992 |
1,423 Words |
| Author
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Nancy Myers
Nancy Myers is communications director of the National Right
to Life Committee, the nation's largest prolife group. |
The Supreme Court's decision in Planned Parenthood V. Casey this summer to reaffirm Roe V. Wade was unexpected by everyone, especially the national news media. Most thought the Court would uphold all the provisions of the Pennsylvania law and perhaps also take a chunk out of Roe V. Wade.
When the Court not only struck down spousal notification but also gave a ringing endorsement of Roe V. Wade, however, most of the media picked up on the proabortion line that the law was on the brink of extinction. The reaction to and coverage of the decision provides a sobering look at how closely the media follows abortion advocates, even in the face of reality, which shows the opposite.
Journalism is all about the unexpected--man bites dog--and the unexpected decision was news, and it should have been in screaming headlines across the front pages: Roe V. Wade Reaffirmed. Instead, the national media ignored a major story in order to pick up the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and National Organization of Women (NOW) party line.
How did this happen? A well-orchestrated campaign by proabortion advocates. Poll after poll has found that Americans reject the kind of extremism that NOW and NARAL represent. Americans overwhelmingly support the provisions of the Pennsylvania law, both those that were upheld and struck down. A 1992 Gallup poll found that 86 percent of American support informed consent and 70 percent do not want abortion to be legal as a method of birth control.
Abortion advocates want to hide those facts and make it seem that everyone favors unrestricted abortion, sidestepping the real issue. (Virtually every American has heard of the "proabortion sleeping giant," although there has yet to be a sighting.) The strategy was outlined in a confidential memo reported in the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (June 27, 1992). The memo, issued by the ACLU's abortion spin-off group, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, told abortion advocates to say to the media, no matter what the Court decided, "Don't be fooled…The court has gutted the core holding of Roe…We can highlight that the Court's sleight of hand may only be temporary."
But no one expected the Supreme Court to reaffirm Roe V. Wade. And when it came to reporters reaching deadlines, most chose to believe the proabortion movement over the Court's own words. Initial reports of the decision were confusing and wrong. The first Associated Press dispatch
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