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POTUS And Regime Media Push Single-Source Story About 10 Yr. Old Crossing State Lines For An Abortion

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerJuly 11, 2022
33 8 minutes read

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Pro-abortion activists are uncritically sharing the anecdote, but there are reasons to question the story…

In the wake of the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the anti-life side is really desperate to show why it’s vital to choose to kill unborn children. The “right” to take the life of a baby in the womb is practically a sacrament on the left that has moved from “safe, legal, and rare” to “abortion-on-demand without apology.”

The problem for the Pro-Aborts is that the vast majority of Americans believe that there should be some limit on abortion.

A late June Harvard-Harris poll after the Dobbs decision shows that although 55% of Americans oppose overturning Roe, 72% believe that abortion should not be legal after 15 weeks. And, as pro-lifers know, a whopping 75% of women believe abortion should be limited to 15 weeks, while 31% of men believe abortion should be allowed after 23 weeks.

The poll also shows that there are more people on the pro-life “extreme” that want to only allow abortion in the cases of rape and incest (37%) than on the up until 9 months (10%) ghouls on the pro-abort side.

You realize what this means, right? The left-tilting media has done an absolutely atrocious job in explaining the details of what the overturning of Roe actually means.

It also means that they’re on shaky ground and have to push the extremes to win people over.

This is why a story about an alleged pregnant 10-year-old who was 6 weeks and 3 days pregnant had to cross state lines from Ohio to Indiana to procure an abortion was spread like manure on fields in the spring all over the Regime Media.

Even President Biden used the unverified story when he announced his limp, performative Executive Order in response to the Dobbs decision.

But there are some very real problems with the story.

The first is that it came from a single source — Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an ob-gyn that is a pro-abortion activist and performs abortions. Bernard literally makes her money from killing babies so she has a financial stake in abortion being left to the voters who believe that there should be restrictions on it.

Even left-leaning “fact-checker” Snopes noticed that there was no corroboration on the story and on July 5 published an article noting that Bernard hadn’t responded to their query, but would update the article if they received anything. At the time of this writing on July 11, there is no update.

Dozens of Snopes readers searched our site or contacted us wondering whether that had actually happened. To find out, we reached out to Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist based in Indianapolis and who spoke to The Columbus Dispatch, about the headline-generating story. As of this writing, Bernard had not returned our request for an interview, and we had not been able to independently corroborate the abortion claim. If we receive additional information, will update this post.
Source: Snopes

Eventually, the Washington Post’s premier “fact-checker”, Glenn Kessler, the guy that hands out the Pinocchios, noticed that there was only one source for the story and that other outlets spread the anecdote without following up on Bernard’s account.

The only source cited for the anecdote was Bernard. She’s on the record, but there is no indication that the newspaper made other attempts to confirm her account. The story’s lead reporter, Shari Rudavsky, did not respond to a query asking whether additional sourcing was obtained. A Gannett spokeswoman provided a comment from Bro Krift, the newspaper’s executive editor: “The facts and sourcing about people crossing state lines into Indiana, including the 10-year-old girl, for abortions are clear. We have no additional comment at this time.”

The story quickly caught fire, becoming a headline in newspapers around the world. News organizations increasingly “aggregate” — or repackage — reporting from elsewhere if it appears of interest to readers. So Bernard remained the only source — and other news organizations did not follow up to confirm her account.
Source: Washington Post

But many conservatives were immediately questioning the anecdote’s veracity and the glaringly obvious questions that they raise that the obtuse and incurious Regime Media didn’t see fit to ask when sharing the story:

  • a 10-year-old is a rape victim — who raped her?
  • is there a police report on this incident?
  • would carrying a pregnancy to term not be a possible risk to the life of a 10-year-old child?
  • isn’t it a bit convenient that she’s 6 weeks and 3 days pregnant?
  • the way that the weeks of pregnancy are counted is by the first day of the last missed period — was this 10-year-old having regular periods that could be tracked with this precision?

And it’s just creepy that the focus has been so singularly on the abortion itself and not the rape that has made some on the right a bit skeptical of the account.

Veteran journalist Megan Fox, who writes for PJ Media, dug into this story several days ago and found some problems with Bernard’s story.

Here is Megan’s amazing thread on her red flags about the anecdote, including Dr. Caitlin Bernard’s frequent media appearances prior to the Dobbs decision where she fearmongers about doom and gloom if abortion was restricted.

This is why it’s such a problem that there is no balance in the Regime Media — even so-called “conservative blogger” Jennifer “Brain Worms” Rubin was pushing the story uncritically.

And while Megan raises a ton of relevant points about the credibility and bias of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, there’s one thing she missed… a similar story was published in June about a 10-year-old rape victim and was picked up by WaPo in July. The thing is, this pregnant 10-year-old lives in Brazil.

The 10-year-old rape victim was pregnant, and asking a court to authorize an abortion.

She found herself sitting under a crucifix in the courtroom in southern Brazil, across from a judge and prosecutor who repeatedly urged her to continue the pregnancy.
Source: Washington Post

What a weird coincidence, eh?

Perhaps Dr. Bernard could comment…?

***UPDATE***

Ohio AG David Yost said on Fox News on Monday that there is “not a whisper anywhere” of a police report and that it is a crime to not report the rape of a minor.

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerJuly 11, 2022
33 8 minutes read
Photo of K. Walker

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker