By Dave Andrusko
If you believe—and why should you?—anything about abortion from either the Los Angeles Times or the Huffington Post, you should be aware of what they are pushing nowadays. You are going to hear it repeated over and over again. But saying the same thing a thousand times doesn’t make it any the less false.
In a word, they are eager to peddle the line that the pro-life movement and many Republicans are “comfortable pushing bans without rape exception,” to borrow the headline of Alanna Vagianos of the Huffington Post.
Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times draws the same conclusion in slightly different wordage. “Just as states may be on the verge of regaining expansive authority to outlaw abortion, eliminating rape and incest exceptions has moved from the fringe to the center of the antiabortion movement.”
Really? I work at the “center of the antiabortion movement”—National Right to Life. Let’s dig deeper into these deliberately misleading statements.
Their focus is on the laws that save unborn babies after the 15th week. These have already passed in four states and we will likely have a total of five states by the end of the session. We hear they have no “exceptions” for pregnancies resulting from rape.
But prior to the end of the 15th week, none of these laws have specific “exceptions” carved out for any circumstances. During the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, abortions for rape, or any other reason, are allowed and legal.
Likewise, Heartbeat laws are cited for having no exceptions for rape when in fact, abortions for rape or for any other reason, are allowed and legal prior to the baby have a detectable heartbeat.
Naturally, pro-abortionists want to portray pro-lifers and pro-life Republican officeholders as, to be polite, inconsistent. What to say?
#1. National Right to Life is committed to saving as many babies as we possibly can as soon as we can. Our ultimate goal is legal protection for all unborn babies.
#2. In addition, pro-abortion groups like to portray the pro-life movement as unconcerned about the women who have abortions but this isn’t true. For example, NRLC would never support laws that would target women for punishment. They are abortion’s second victim.
#3. Pro-abortionists want to talk about abortions earlier in pregnancy. But 15 weeks is already in the second trimester. Support for legal abortion drops dramatically in the second trimester and drops even more in the third trimester. Poll have shown majority opposition to abortion after the first trimester.