With Republicans struggling to respond to the Alabama embryo ruling that endangered in vitro fertilization, Fox News is all but speechless on the subject.
In case you missed it, Alabama’s Republican Supreme Court ruled on February 16 that embryos are “children.”
From The New York Times:
The judges issued the ruling on Friday in appeals cases brought by couples whose embryos were destroyed in 2020, when a hospital patient removed frozen embryos from tanks of liquid nitrogen in Mobile and dropped them on the floor.
Referencing antiabortion language in the state constitution, the judges’ majority opinion said that an 1872 statute allowing parents to sue over the wrongful death of a minor child applies to “unborn children,” with no exception for “extrauterine children.”
“Even before birth, all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,” Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote in a concurring opinion.
Infertility specialists and legal experts said the ruling had potentially profound effects, which should be of concern to every American who may need to access reproductive services like in vitro fertilization.
A separate New York Times article reported that "Cryoport, a major embryo shipping company, said on Friday that it was 'pausing' its business in Alabama" until further notice. The ruling "has already significantly limited fertility treatment for patients in that state," The Times said. "Three clinics have paused care as they evaluate what the ruling means for their patients and their own legal liability," as accidents at IVF clinics are not uncommon.
Yet another New York Times article noted that the ruling has put Republicans on the defensive and that they have been struggling to respond.
Republicans without a message? What's their propaganda network to do but to try to bury the whole issue?
Media Matters crunched the numbers:
According to a Media Matters review, Fox News devoted just 6 minutes of coverage to the ruling and its consequences from February 16 through noon on February 23, even as Alabama fertility clinics shut down IVF treatments in response. MSNBC and CNN meanwhile dedicated 3 hours 45 minutes and 3 hours 13 minutes, respectively, to the ruling. While MSNBC and CNN each hosted numerous reproductive health experts and prospective parents seeking IVF treatment who have been affected by the ruling, Fox's only guest to discuss the ruling was Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream.
I guarantee that once Republicans find their messaging footing, Fox will be there to propagandize for them.
(Image: US Government Owned Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)