Roe V. Wade and Misinformation

On June 25th, CNN host Pamela Brown interviewed Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “You are arguing that your Catholic Faith dictates that life begins at the moment of conception,” Brown challenged. “Why should your religious beliefs trump [others’]?” In response, Hawkins disputed the premise of Brown’s question. “It’s not my faith that tells me that life begins at conception. It’s science,” Hawkins explained. Attempting to elaborate by citing a University of Chicago study affirming that fact, Hawkins was interrupted over and over by Brown, who repeatedly stated “There is no consensus among scientists.”

The study cited by Kristan Hawkins not only affirms the broad scientific consensus about when life begins, it also demonstrates that this question, central to a measured debate on abortion, has become irredeemably politicized. “One side sees abortion rights as critical to gender equality, while the other sees abortion as an epic human rights tragedy—as over a billion humans have died in abortions since the year 2000,” explained the author of the study, Steve Jacobs.

With such high stakes, one might consider the role of the media to be incredibly crucial; it has the unique ability to lend a voice to those who wish to discuss and debate the issue. However, amidst the chaos of Roe v. Wade’s overturning, prominent media outlets have used their voices to spread confusion and promote false information about what this new judicial precedent means.

Misinformation is often dangerous, but in many cases, false information about health-related matters can cause real, physical harm. As many states have enacted various forms of abortion bans, countless articles and media personalities have claimed that women are now in danger of bodily harm from mistreated ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. An article from NPR in May is ominously titled “In Texas, abortion laws inhibit care for miscarriages”; despite this, in the article’s sixteenth paragraph, testimony from the Legislative Director for Texas Right to Life, John Seago, directly refutes that claim with evidence from the law itself.

National Review notes that every single abortion ban currently in effect has codified exceptions if necessary to save the life of the mother. In fact, Planned Parenthood’s own official website explains that “Treating an ectopic pregnancy isn’t the same thing as getting an abortion…The medical procedures for abortions are not the same as the medical procedures for an ectopic pregnancy.” Even so, sources such as NBC and The New York Times continue to fearmonger among readers, casting doubt on the legality of ectopic pregnancy treatments, miscarriages, and other life-threatening situations. Because of these concerns, some doctors have allegedly refused to treat their patients.

The false or misleading information related to abortion is not limited to the text of each abortion ban, or Roe v. Wade itself. NBC published an article falsely claiming that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had cited a “debunked” theory that cells from aborted children were used in COVID-19 vaccine development. In actuality, the theory cited by Thomas wasn’t “debunked” at all. The article itself states that “Pfizer and Moderna used fetal cell lines early in their Covid vaccine development to test the efficacy of their formulas, as other vaccines have in the past. The fetal tissue used in these processes came from elective abortions that happened decades ago.” Snopes fact-checked the spin from NBC, along with similar articles by Axios and Politico, “False.”

However, the mockery resulting from this claim has lent credence to attacks against Justice Thomas and the legitimacy of the Supreme Court itself. In a viral tweet from a verified Twitter account, Wajahat Ali wrote“Awesome, we have a QAnon Supreme Court Justice.”

The bottom line? Facts matter. The truth matters. Words have consequences. Media entities with slogans like “The Most Trusted Name in News“ and “Democracy Dies in Darkness“ are fully aware of the responsibility their platforms entail. While ideological bias is impossible to prevent entirely, the truth ought to rise above partisan preference – no matter the stakes.