5MonthFoetusWeb2004The Associated Press tells us that the “GOP-led House on Tuesday passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill.” But don’t worry, Politico adds. It is “largely symbolic: The bill will be dead on arrival in the Senate.”

… The Democrats’ ill-fated gun restriction push was never a “symbolic effort” or “far-reaching,” was it? Coverage of the Newtown, Conn., shootings… was almost immediately turned into a debate over gun control. The Gosnell horror, when covered (which was sporadically), was sequestered from any broader discussion about morality or science or regulations or reform — or anything other than the crime itself.

… [T]he president claimed that 90 percent of Americans supported him… in favor of expanded background checks. What you may not have heard is that Gallup (and many others) consistently find that strong majorities of Americans oppose not only third-trimester abortions but second-trimester abortions, as well.

That is the reason, of course, that coverage tends to conflate all positions on abortion — throwing together those who believe that 22-week-old fetuses can feel pain and those who believe that a woman can avoid pregnancy while being raped if she prays hard enough — so they can focus on the all-important political implications (hint: terrible for Republicans) of a debate they’re already distorting.

~ David Harsanyi, Human Events, June 19

[Image of 20-week fetus by Science Photo Library via pregnancymomandbaby.com]

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