Media Spun Ireland Pro-Choice Vote Very Differently from Argentina Pro-Life Vote
Ireland and Argentina. They’re not likely to be countries you’d associate with one another, but worldwide establishment media has now unwittingly given you cause to do just that, with their spun coverage of the abortion issue at the center of it.
It all began when Irish voters were faced with a major abortion decision in May of this year. They could “Save the 8th” or repeal it via a referendum.
The Associated Press noted that in Ireland the eighth amendment, which was “enacted in 1983,” meant that women had to seek elective abortions (those performed for non-medical reasons) outside of the country because it “required doctors to regard the rights of a fetus, from the moment of conception, as equal to the rights of the mother.”
When the referendum results were in favor of repeal, the suggested replacement would be that abortions are permissible in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, accusations flew, particularly on social media, that the usual suspects of liberal government, Google and establishment media had engaged in a propaganda campaign to push for repeal. Here’s one example from a “Save the 8th” supporter:
https://twitter.com/RenuaGalwayEast/status/994504992009654272
A man interviewed by the AP, 75-year-old retiree Frank Gaynor, echoed the sentiment, saying “he never imagined the vote in favor of abortion rights would be so lopsided. He said he was troubled by the way the ‘yes’ (to repeal the 8th) campaign used the case of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist who died of sepsis during a prolonged miscarriage after being denied an abortion in Galway in 2012, to drum up support for repeal.”
“I was disappointed to see the tragic death of Savita being shamelessly used as an excuse for introducing abortion into a country,” Gaynor said. “That was a sepsis issue that was mishandled. Not an Eighth Amendment issue.”
He added, “It’s extraordinary the way the campaign focused so much on ‘me, me, me,’ the rights of the mother, and very little mention of the unborn child. That was sidelined.”
NewsBusters pointed out that the establishment media didn’t just report the election results, but “applauded it as a ‘historic’ vote and ‘women’s rights’ win.”
Contrast that with what happened just months later on Aug. 9 when the Senate in Argentina rejected a bill that would have allowed elective abortions up to 14 weeks.
NewsBusters went on to note that “the three broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC — only covered the Ireland vote during their morning and evening news shows.” In addition, none of them even bothered to mention Argentina.
Despite both countries facing potential major changes to their law in regards to the hot topic of abortion, a pro-abortion vote was “applauded” by news media and covered, while a pro-life vote was largely ignored. But there is no agenda or bias at work here, right?
Some of the commentary by the aforementioned media, according to NewsBusters: “During ‘CBS News Sunday Morning,’ anchor Lee Cowan declared ‘the outcome of the vote is considered a historic vote for women’s rights.’ The day before, for the ‘CBS Weekend News,’ Saturday anchor Reena Ninan continued that ‘it’s being called a quiet revolution and a victory for women.’”
But there’s more. “ABC weekend anchor Tom Llamas reported on the ‘historic vote’ with the ‘final tally showing overwhelming support for women’s reproductive rights’ during ‘World News Tonight.'”
Is it really any wonder that the public questions the establishment media’s reporting or believes there is bias in coverage? It seems evidence continues to mount on a daily basis to support the argument that the establishment media, both here and abroad, are pushing an agenda rather than simply presenting the facts.
Some suggest that it is this very bias that fuels anger on the left, leading to threats and violence. Of note is the reaction from the public in Argentina when the decision to protect unborn life was revealed. Abortion rights supporters rioted.
When pro-lifers in Ireland lost, they did not riot. They mourned the result and vowed to continue to peaceably fight to protect the unborn.
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