{"id":163381,"date":"2017-03-04T09:38:37","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T15:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=163381"},"modified":"2024-09-20T12:23:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:23:33","slug":"fact-checking-congressman-duffy-politifact-misses-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/fact-checking-congressman-duffy-politifact-misses-point\/","title":{"rendered":"While ‘fact-checking’ Congressman Duffy, PolitiFact misses the point…again"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

PolitiFact advertises itself with the slogan, “Fact-checking U.S. politics.” But what the group does all too often is share its own opinions while deceptively dismissing the valid points of politicians it would rather not agree with. It quibbles over words and terms instead of honestly evaluating the points being made.<\/p>\n

Case in point: Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On January 24, 2017, Rep.\u00a0Duffy released a statement<\/a>, announcing his sponsorship of the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act. This bill would allow states to prevent their taxpayer funds from going to organizations and facilities that commit abortions. States would continue to use Medicaid funds to provide preventative, prenatal, and other healthcare services for women and their families<\/a>. Rep. Duffy stated:<\/p>\n

New evidence reveals that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood do little other than provide abortions. If a state wants to take taxpayer money that would have otherwise gone to a disreputable organization like Planned Parenthood and instead transfer it to non-controversial community centers that provide women\u2019s health, they should be free to do so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Exactly one month later, on February 24, 2017, PolitiFact decided to criticize<\/a> Rep.\u00a0Duffy’s statement, calling it “false and ridiculous” and deeming it a “pants on fire” claim. Under the guise of “fully evaluat[ing]” Rep. Duffy’s claim, PolitiFact said it needed “to get a sense of the relative frequency of the abortions Planned Parenthood provides and how it compares to other services,” stating, “there are different ways of measuring that.”<\/p>\n

Conveniently, PolitiFact glosses over the measurements that would reveal Planned Parenthood for exactly what it is and exactly what Rep. Duffy was indicating it is: America’s Abortion Corporation<\/a>. PolitiFact was sure to mention the provably-deceptive claim<\/a> by Planned Parenthood that abortions are “only 3%” of its “services.” Even the Washington Post gave this false statistic “Three Pinocchios<\/a>,” and the liberal media outlet Slate<\/a> called it “the most meaningless abortion statistic ever.”<\/p>\n

To its credit, PolitiFact did mention that the 3% claim has its critics and that the calculation doesn’t acknowledge the obvious difference<\/a> between handing out a condom and committing a D&E abortion<\/a> — which Planned Parenthood invalidly equates:<\/p>\n

Critics and some observers have questioned whether the 3 percent figure accurately reflects the proportion of abortion services at Planned Parenthood centers.\u00a0That\u2019s because the calculation used to arrive at the number doesn\u2019t distinguish between types of services, their cost or complexity. In other words, one abortion is counted the same as providing a contraceptive or pregnancy test.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But that’s where PolitiFact goes wrong. Instead of further explaining why the 3% measurement is misleading<\/a>, it conveniently moved on to a different measurement, in its attempt to discredit Rep. Duffy. Here, for PolitiFact’s benefit, is an actual analysis of that 3% claim:<\/p>\n