Republicans Seize on ‘GOP Pounces on Late-Term Abortion’ Stories

Julio RosasFeb 1st, 2019, 2:28 pm
 

A deluge of articles from outlets have finally decided to cover the late-term abortion debate in the state of Virginia, but journalists have done so in keeping with a media tradition that can only be described as committed trolling.

One problem was they decided to cover the bill, and subsequent remarks from Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, only after Republicans and pro-life people voiced their shock and disgust.

It was only then that mainstream media actually wrote about controversy, relying on a tired trope that misses the meat of the story: they point out how Republicans were “pouncing” and “seizing” on the controversial comments, instead of highlighting the comments themselves.

In the case of  The Washington Post, their original report about the fallout from her proposed bill was headlined: “Until this week, Del. Kathy Tran known for nursing her daughter on the House floor. Now Republicans are calling her a baby killer.” It was later changed to: “Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her baby on the House floor. Now she’s getting death threats over abortion.”

The” GOP pounce” angle does, if anything, reveal — in cases like a bill allowing a baby about to be birthed to still be aborted if the mother requests and approved of by her doctor — the deafening silence from Democrats.


It is hard to believe almost no Democrat, working and living in a district right next to the state where it occurred, did not hear about the fiasco a whole day after it went viral on social media. It makes it especially harder to believe since these same people who “did not know” about it did comment about Nathan Phillips and Nick Sandmann within hours after the incident went viral on the same platform.

The latest fiasco proves a rule many conservatives believe about the media: The story is never really about what Democrats say or do, it’s always what Republicans’ reactions are to what Democrats say or do.

Image above via Discovery.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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Julio Rosas

Julio has previously written for Independent Journal Review. He is currently a Military/Veterans Contributor for Townhall.com and serving in the Marine Corps Reserves.