RELATED: Dear Media: There’s No Such Thing As A ‘Morning-After Abortion Pill’

The Obama administration announced, last year, that insurance plans would be required to provide a raft of preventive services, including contraception and sterilization. Currently, religious organizations enjoy a “conscience exemption,” but Sebelius’ announcement means that non-church religious employers will be required to cover such services, without deductibles or coinsurance, beginning in August of 2013.

In discussing outrage over the announcement, Fox legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr. falsely claimed that President Obama “has said the federal government is going to demand that Catholic universities, Catholic social service agencies, and Catholic institutions other than churches provide drugs that induce abortions, provide sterilizations, provide contraceptions free, really in violation of Catholic faith and really, other organizations and other religious organizations, it violates their faith.”

The truth is that the new regulations would apply only to contraceptives, including emergency contraception, and does not require these employers to cover the “abortion pill,” or any drug that “induces abortions.” This is part of a campaign by anti-science conservatives to conflate emergency contraception with RU486, the so-called “abortion pill,” and one that Fox and Friends has participated in before.

In fact, I don’t even watch Fox and Friends all that much, but out of the four times I’ve tuned in this month, they have done this twice.

The fact is that emergency contraception doesn’t “induce abortions,” and can’t induce abortions. Plan B must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, and the “Ella” pill, within 120 hours, long before a pregnancy could actually occur.

Anti-abortion activists have tried to muddy the waters, not only by falsely calling Plan B a “morning after abortion pill,” but by also claiming that “Ella” can cause abortions if taken after pregnancy occurs. This isn’t based on any evidence (the drug hasn’t been tested as an “abortion pill,” but women who have inadvertently taken it after becoming pregnant haven’t had problems), but on the notion that “Ella” is “chemically similar” to RU486. As far as that goes, water is “chemically similar” to hydrochloric acid, but you don’t see anyone trying to ban Dasani.

Even the activists who posit this evidence-free claim do so under the hypothetical premise that women would use the drug outside its recommended effective time frame, and in hugely excessive doses. Based on that logic, you could ban any drug, and there’s still no evidence that, even then, “Ella” would induce an abortion. Here are the facts about Ella:

The two emergency contraceptives work differently:

• Plan B contains levonorgestrel, a progestin hormone used in lower doses in many birth control pills.
• Ella contains ulipristal, a non-hormonal drug that blocks the effects of key hormones necessary for conception.
• Plan B should be taken as soon as possible after sex. It may work for up to 72 hours after sex.
• While emergency contraception should not be delayed, Ella’s effectiveness does not fade for 120 hours (five days) after sex, regardless of whether the hormonal surge has occurred.

There is a legitimate discussion to be had over whether the Constitution protects religious organizations’ non-religious activity (in my view, it doesn’t), but giving out false medical information is not only irresponsible, it’s dangerous. Fox & Friends should correct Johnson’s reporting.

Here’s the clip, from Fox News:

As I’ve discovered from watching the #Uppers hashtag, there are two things that Up fans are inordinately fascinated with: the discussions that go on during the commercial breaks, which are frequently referenced on the air, and the plate of muffins and pastries that many guests seem too shy to sample. I’ve got generous helpings of both for you.

During my time on the set, I tried to swoop in like a media Marlin Perkins and capture the panel in its natural habitat, undisturbed. The banter during the breaks is indicative of the energy that makes the show so appealing. The talk doesn’t turn peripheral, there is no actual “break.” The conversation just…continues. The dialogue can be difficult to hear, so I boosted the audio as best I could, but these clips are also fascinating if you’re into backstage details, like I am.

As it happens, I’m going to show you the last break first, because it requires a little bit of setup. Sunday’s show featured a terrific interview with Dr. Susan Wood (which you should watch here), and a discussion about the Obama administration’s awful decision to make Plan B a prescription-only drug for those under age 17, and the President’s awful response to it (he parroted Republican talking points about selling Plan B “alongside bubble gum”).

During an earlier break, Hayes had said that he thought the politics of the decision were right. During the final break, which was longer than the others, I asked him if he meant the decision itself was the right politics, or the President’s framing.

The clip also features panelist Reihan Salam, who is known to Up viewers as the one guest who can be relied on to chow down during the show, literally inhaling a pastry in the background, but surviving the ordeal.

NEXT: The Politics Of Climate Science

Loesch argued that there’s no way to tell which funds were being used by Planned Parenthood for abortions, and therefore no way to fund them while obeying the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions. Spitzer responded that, under that logic, you would have to cut off funding to most of the hospitals in the country.

Liberal media watchdog Media Matters has been loudly critical of CNN’s decision to hire Loesch, but based on this appearance, it’s tough not to defend that call. Loesch’s increasingly strident presence on the network makes for unquestionably entertaining, interesting TV, and as you can see from Spitzer’s follow-up, in which he asks Loesch for insight into Tea Party legislative strategy, she is perfectly equipped to act as that movement’s spokesperson:

Update: Dana Loesch responds to Spitzer, Speier, and Mediaite at Big Journalism, and offers an argument that didn’t appear in the segment we presented. She also seems to be saying that there were instances of Rep. Speier interrupting her that were not shown:

Earlier tonight I appeared on “In the Arena” with Eliot Spitzer. Neither Spitzer or Rep. Jackie Speier were fully forthcoming in the facts about federal funding for abortions. I also wish that the times Rep. Speier repeatedly interrupted me were shown as well in the original take, finally prompting my response in the video below, but content must adhere to a clock during broadcast.

Target 1: Universities.

There was a time not too long ago in this country that we used to walk through walls of fire to make sure we weren’t funding Hamas or Hezbollah.  I have news for you: there are a lot of universities that are just as dangerous with indoctrination of our children as these terror groups are in Iran or North Korea.

That is news.  But what offense is Beck referring to that is on par greater than these paramilitary forces?  Giving GPS cell phones to dehydrated illegal immigrants crossing through America’s southern deserts.  So aiding a crime? Definitely.  Does that make a professor from UC-San Diego worse than 2/3 of the Axis of Evil?  Debatable.

Target 2: Kathleen Sebelius

Our Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius just said, and I quote, “We need a re-education process on healthcare.” Oh.  Well, how very Kim Jong-Il of you.  Or dare I say it?  Mao is the “in” one now, isn’t he?

Beck is using a pull quote from an interview where Sebelius explains the Obama administration failed to explain what was in the new health care law and is making it sound like they are setting up brainwashing camps. No, it isn’t Kim Jong-Il of anyone to say that the healthcare bill is confusing. That’s the one thing both sides of the issue actually agree on.

After that, Beck turns on his serious mode and again somberly warns against the re-education camps we call universities before throwing to commercial.  Perhaps a promo for Beck University?

Clip via Media Matters [Update - we've added a longer video for fuller context]:

You see, you’re supposed to sneeze into your sleeve, and not your hands. Todd probably won’t forget after this.

Todd’s colleague Jake Tapper at ABC turned the story into a blog post, complete with a video (it’s below). Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gets in on the ribbing as well.

“I mean what is that about? Jeez!” says Sebelius, half-joking. “Who’s got some Purell, give that to Mr. Todd right away. A little hand sanitizer. We’ll have Elmo give a special briefing.”

Ouch. Tapper rubbed it in: “Your humble correspondent noted that his 2-year-old did it the correct way this morning.”

Todd tweeted about the incident: “Just got scolded by Sec. Sebelius for sneezing into my hand and not sleeve. Consider this your PSA.”

Insert “liberal media cooties” joke here. Check it out:

—–
» Follow Steve Krakauer on Twitter

Back then, hearing the news of a VP selection by text message made us all giddy; hours of cable news time was spent pondering the hubris of Greek pillars at Invesco Field; Hurricane Gustav was threatening to wipe the whole GOP event off the map; and the country was about to be introduced to a little-known politician who showed enormous promise named Sarah Palin. Wow.

PHOTOGALLERY: 2008 CONVENTIONS

Through it all, a cadre of journos, news execs, pundits in TV makeup, upstart bloggers and jockeying political operatives had gotten used to each other’s faces on the campaign trail, through stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Super Tuesday and more, with their speeches, rallies, debates, spin rooms, hoe-downs, barbecues, fundraisers, black-tie dinners, arugula, waffles, shots of JD, the thrill of final victory and the bitter, bitter pall of defeat. In August-September 2008, it all converged into one Mega-Week (give or take a few days of travel time) as the whole gang plus everyone else who could score some couch space converged on Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was lots of work but lots of fun — like sleepaway camp for politicos. So – if you’re bored and nostaligic on this sleepy summer long weekend, you’re in luck — I took the best of my 600+ photos from last year and winnowed it down to the very best of the bunch, for some golden Kodak moments featuring any and all of — in no particular order — Joe Scarborough, Joe Klein, Mika Brzezinski, Arianna Huffington, Jake Weisberg, Dana Milbank, Luke Russert, Kevin Madden, Mark Salter, Ana Marie Cox, Jon Klein, Anderson Cooper, Rick Stengel, Mary Katherine Ham, Chuck Todd, Betsy Fischer, Trent Lott, John Roberts, Laura Ingraham, Jonah Goldberg, Patrick Gavin, Rick Klein, Tucker Carlson, Amy Argetsinger, Norah O’Donnell, Pat Buchanan, Ryan Lizza, Joel Stein, Walter Isaacson, Courtney Hazlett, Keli Goff, Chris Cillizza, Mike Isikoff, Alan Cumming, Jason Jones, Samantha Power, Cass Sunstein, Carly Fiorina, Larry Page, Henry Kissinger, Chad Hurley, Jon Hamm, John Dickerson, Obama Girl, Ari Melber, Josh Green, Joan Walsh, Ron Brownstein, Matt Cooper, Fred Armisen, will.i.am, Markos Moulitsas, Chevy Chase, Tammy Haddad, Lynn Sweet, Karen Tumulty, Ben Smith, John Oliver, Karl Rove, David Carr, Kathleen Sebelius, Sammy Hagar, Rahm Emanuel, Katie Couric, Peggy Noonan and various people eating free food at the CNN Grill. Was that just a blatant attempt at showing up in all of your Google alerts? Perhaps. But still, the pics are pretty fun. Check them out here — and happy Labor Day Weekend!

PHOTOGALLERY: 2008 CONVENTIONS