{"id":90799,"date":"2016-03-23T17:33:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T21:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=90799"},"modified":"2016-03-24T13:38:13","modified_gmt":"2016-03-24T17:38:13","slug":"study-networks-dont-report-dangers-of-abortion-to-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/study-networks-dont-report-dangers-of-abortion-to-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Networks don\u2019t report on dangers of abortion to women"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Newsbusters<\/a>) The broadcast networks have a long history of supporting the pro-abortion side of the life debate. That bias reveals itself as much in what they won\u2019t say as in what they will. Not only do journalists routinely refuse to report how abortion destroys unborn babies<\/a>, but also they censor the danger abortion poses for women.<\/p>\n

For the past two years, ABC, CBS and NBC haven\u2019t mentioned a single case of a woman\u2019s health threatened by abortion. Instead, the three networks described abortion as a necessary \u201chealthcare\u201d service.<\/p>\n

Abortion Health Risks<\/strong><\/p>\n

While details on abortion complications are disputed among sources, experts agree that they exist.<\/p>\n

According to pro-life group Americans United for Life, abortion isn\u2019t as simple as a cavity removal<\/a>. Immediate health risks include<\/a> subsequent preterm birth, placenta previa, mental health problems, breast cancer, miscarriage or death.<\/p>\n

Some of these risks (such as breast cancer) are disputed<\/a> by the Guttmacher Institute. But even the research group (once associated with Planned Parenthood<\/a>)\u00a0admits abortion can result in death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk of death associated with abortion increases with the length of pregnancy, from one death for every one million abortions at or before eight weeks to one per 29,000 at 16\u201320 weeks\u2014and one per 11,000 at 21 weeks or later,\u201d the Guttmacher Institute reported.<\/p>\n

Since 1973, the year the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion with Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the CDC has recorded<\/a> 424 maternal deaths from legal abortion. The most recent numbers from the CDC are for 2011, when \u201ctwo women were identified to have died as a result of complications from known legal induced abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A study by the University of California San Francisco published in 2014 looked at 54,911 abortions and\u00a0discovered<\/a> that 126 cases \u201cinvolved major complications, which the researchers defined as conditions that required hospital admission, surgery or a blood transfusion\u201d while 1,030 cases \u201cresulted in minor complications in the six weeks following the procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other studies have found that abortion is safer than childbirth<\/a> \u2013 although pro-life doctors dispute that<\/a>. It\u2019s also beside the point. While in developed nations modern medicine has made childbirth far safer than it once was, nobody is selling childbirth as a routine \u201cwomen\u2019s health\u201d procedure, as some liberals do<\/a> with abortion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

State-government sites also list possible risks.<\/p>\n

Louisiana\u2019s Department of Health and Hospitals named<\/a> the risks as: pelvic infection, incomplete abortion, blood clots in the uterus, heavy bleeding, cut or torn cervix, perforation of the uterus wall, anesthesia-related complications, Rh Immune Globulin Therapy and future childbearing.<\/p>\n

Alaska\u2019s Department of Health and Social Services outlined<\/a> possible risks as: incomplete abortion, cervical injury, uterine perforation, heavy bleeding, retained blood clots in the uterus, allergic reactions and Anesthesia-related complications.<\/p>\n

MedlinePlus, a health information service by the U.S. National Library of Medicine,listed<\/a> \u201crare\u201d risks of surgical abortion as: damage to the womb or cervix, uterine perforation, excessive bleeding, infection of the uterus or fallopian tubes, scarring of the inside of the uterus, reaction to the medicines or anesthesia and not removing all of the tissue.<\/p>\n

Networks Skip Opportunities to Inform Women about Abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Network correspondents often hinted<\/em> at a connection between women\u2019s health and abortion \u2013 when citing the pro-life movement.<\/p>\n

H.B. 2, the abortion law out of Texas recently challenged in a U. S. Supreme Court case (Whole Woman\u2019s Health v. Hellerstedt)<\/em>, forced correspondents to mention women\u2019s safety in regards to abortion. That\u2019s because, among other things, the bill required abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and mandated that those clinics adhere to the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers.\"\"<\/p>\n

In a segment forThis Morning <\/em>on Nov. 14 2015, CBS correspondent Jan Crawford reported that one pro-life leader said that H.B. 2 was, \u201cdesigned to protect women`s health.\u201d Similarly, on Oct. 4, 2015 during Nightly News<\/em>, NBC correspondent Pete Williams acknowledged, \u201cSupporters of the law say it protects the health of patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the reporters didn\u2019t take the opportunity even then to elaborate on how abortion could endanger a woman\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, they were eager to list the dangers abortion clinics faced.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the Colorado shooting at Planned Parenthood last fall, NBC journalist Kristen Welker listed the attacks on clinics during the Nightly News<\/em> on Nov. 28, 2015 (as well as during Today<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\u201cThough acts of violence are relatively rare, between 1997 and 2012, there have been seventy-six attacks on American abortion providers,\u201d Welker reported. \u201cIn September, a Planned Parenthood clinic was set on fire in Washington State. In 2013, a man used an axe to damage a clinic in Indiana. In 2009, George Tiller, a doctor who performed late-term abortions, was shot to death in his church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before the Colorado shooting, the networks listed threats. CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang similarly listed attacks at clinics, for example, during Evening News<\/em>Sept. 19, 2015.<\/p>\n

Networks Report on Abortion as Health<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Instead of seeing abortion as a threat to health, anchors and correspondents routinely used language implying that abortion itself was \u201chealth\u201d:<\/p>\n