Now that the GOP is, once again, trying to de-fund Planned Parenthood, Fox News is, once again, aiding them in their effort as shown by Bret Baier's anti-choice piece of propaganda disguised as "real news, fair & balanced."
Friday night, Baier immediately framed the message that all you good, pro-life taxpayers are funding evil abortion services even though that-isn't-true. He began by citing how the Hyde Amendment blocks public funding of abortion and added, without identifying the source of his data, that "taxpayers are responsible for funding four of every ten dollars and, of course, money is fungible." (Translation - while the government prohibits funding abortion, those sneaky Planned Parenthood folks are somehow doing creative juggling of their books so they can fund abortion). He tossed to a report done by Fox's Shannon Bream who has also pushed anti-choice talking points on Fox News.
While it is a fact that abortion makes up only 3% of Planned Parenthood's services, an *unidentified woman made the claim, promoted on a virulently anti-choice website, Life News, that "abortion makes up more than 94% of Planned Parenthood's pregnancy services." (The same methodology was used to make a similar claim in 2011 and was debunked by Politifact Ohio) Shannon Bream's voice interjected the next propaganda point: "If you're a tax payer you're funding Planned Parenthood to the tune of nearly $530 federal dollars" which, of course, are not used for abortions but then this is Fox News. The same unidentified woman claimed that "poll after poll" shows that taxpayers don't want to fund abortion" and when money goes to Planned Parenthood "it allows them to do more abortions." (And do cancer screenings, HIV testing, routine gynecological care but nobody mentioned that)
Bream reported that while pro-lifers haven't succeeded in de-funding Planned Parenthood, they're "celebrating" all the state level anti-choice laws that have passed in the last three years. Bream did play brief video of Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richard's response to the crack-down. Obviously, in anticipation of this week's House vote on the 20 week abortion ban, Bream mentioned that a bunch of states have passed these bans because, according to "supporters," science says that this is the point at which fetuses (Bream used the anti-choice "unborn children" phrase) feel pain but that this is contested by those who are pro-choice. She mentioned the upcoming vote on the 20 week ban which, as she reported, will be either blocked in the Senate or vetoed.
The Fox title for the video is "pro-life advocates celebrating successes at state level." Woo-hoo, let's celebrate abortion access being limited, especially for poor women whose safety net is being shredded by the Fox supported GOP, and women having to go back to the alley - or, in Texas, into Mexico! And Fox News says there's no war on women!
*She appears to be Mallory Quigley, Communications Director for the anti-choice Susan B Anthony list. She has previously advanced pro-life propaganda on Fox News. Funny that the "fair & balanced" Fox "News" didn't identify her seeing that she got lots of face time!
