‘I Have to Stop You There’: Right Brings Penchant for Disinformation to Abortion Debate
CNN host fact-checks Republican in real-time after she claims mifepristone might be unsafe
Add abortion to the list of things that the political right is willing to lie about.
Led by Donald Trump, and his “Big Lie,” that he won the 2020 presidential election, Republicans and others on the right have become increasingly willing to spread disinformation — and just plain lie to Americans — if it suits their purposes.
And now with a federal judge in Texas effectively trying to ban the use of medication abortion by outlawing a key underlying medicine in that process, Republicans are bringing that disinformation to the abortion debate.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. Northern District of Texas, late last week halted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an abortion pill — except that same medication has been used by women safely and effectively for 23 years already.
In fact, use of the so-called “abortion pill,” accounts for the majority of abortions in the United States.
Despite that decades-old track record — as that the FDA approved the medication for safe use back in 2000 — a Republican strategist tried to claim that mifepristone is unsafe.
Republican strategist Alice Stewart made the claim in an on-camera appearance on CNN, with host Abby Philip jumping in to fact-check the false claim in real-time.
Phillip asked Stewart if perhaps the anti-abortion movement is going too far by trying to outlaw a drug that's been available since before the turn of the century.
Especially, as Phillip noted, most Americans oppose judges trying to ban medication abortion.
“Look, I think Republican pro-life leaders are going to really fight this battle, because they look at this and the numbers that the pro-life advocates are looking at have to do with the dangers of these medical abortion pills,” Stewart began in her reply. “And I know that you shared earlier some of the facts and data that has been shared by the FDA, but pro-life advocates are looking at this, the way the FDA did these tests, they didn’t feel as though it was full and complete and done in the typical way the FDA does this.
“They’re concerned with the safety of women. Oftentimes the injuries to the mother are not reported because they are not required to go to seek a doctor’s care or go to the emergency room. So, a lot of the injuries to the mothers are unreported for that very reason. But again, I think this is going to be — ”
That's where CNN's Phillip jumped in to correct the record.
“Alice, I mean, I have to stop you there because, I mean, we do have the data on this: It is a very safe drug. It’s more safe than Penicillin. It’s more safe than even Viagra, which is so widely used,” she said. “And it’s notable, I mean, the judge is citing psychological damage to two women, but not, you know, taking into consideration that there was a 20-plus-year process in which this drug was deemed safe. Why even does the judge have the right to decide what drugs are safe and what’s not?”
“Well, clearly, the pro-life and the abortion and medical abortion issue has been legally challenged and judges are in the center of the controversy,” Stewart, who worked on Republican Sen Ted Cruz's unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, replied. “Look, I, as you know, I’m pro-life. I think this decision is best left up to the states and let the state legislatures make the decision on this. And based on the numbers of people and where they stand on this issue, I do see a way or a pathway for these types of medical abortions to proceed, but it’s in the legal process now and the judges and the courts are making this decision.
“But ultimately, again, this is one of the many issues I think are best left up to elected officials at the state level and it should not be adjudicated in the courts,” she added.
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