A one-source story about a 10-year-old and an abortion goes viral

Spread the love

Loading

by Glenn Kessler

“This isn’t some imagined horror. It is already happening. Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life.”
— President Biden, remarks during signing of executive order on abortion access, July 8
 

This is the account of a one-source story that quickly went viral around the world — and into the talking points of the president.

 

The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a right to abortion, has led a number of states to quickly impose new laws to restrict or limit abortions. Ohio was one of the first, imposing a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape and incest.

 

On July 1, the Indianapolis Star, also known as the IndyStar, published an article, written by the newspaper’s medical writer, about how women seeking abortions had begun traveling from Ohio to Indiana, where less restrictive abortion laws were still in place. “Patients head to Indiana for abortion services as other states restrict care,” the article was headlined.
 

That was a benign headline. But it was the anecdotal beginning that caught the attention of other news organizations. The article said that three days after the June 24 court ruling, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, Caitlan Bernard, who performs abortions, received a call from “a child abuse doctor” in Ohio who had a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant. Unable to obtain an abortion in Ohio, “the girl soon was on her way to Indiana to Bernard’s care,” the Star reported.

 

The only source cited for the anecdote was Bernard. She’s on the record, but there is no indication that the newspaper made other attempts to confirm her account. The story’s lead reporter, Shari Rudavsky, did not respond to a query asking whether additional sourcing was obtained. A Gannett spokeswoman provided a comment from Bro Krift, the newspaper’s executive editor: “The facts and sourcing about people crossing state lines into Indiana, including the 10-year-old girl, for abortions are clear. We have no additional comment at this time.”

 

The story quickly caught fire, becoming a headline in newspapers around the world. News organizations increasingly “aggregate” — or repackage — reporting from elsewhere if it appears of interest to readers. So Bernard remained the only source — and other news organizations did not follow up to confirm her account.

 

A sampling:

 

  • The Daily Mail, July 1: “Child abuse victim, 10, who was six weeks pregnant is forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion after home state outlaws it under Roe v Wade ruling.”
  • The Guardian, July 3: “10-year-old rape victim forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion.”
  • The Jerusalem Post, July 3: “10-year-old rape victim denied abortion in Ohio”
  • Bangladesh Weekly, July 3: “US: 10-year-old Ohio girl denied abortion after abortion ruling”

 

On CNN’s Sunday interview show on July 3, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem was pressed about the story. Noem, a Republican who opposes abortion rights, said the story was “tragic” and the focus should be on the rapist. “As much as we can talk about what we can do for that little girl, I think we also need to be addressing those sick individuals that do this to our children,” she said.

 

Under Ohio law, a physician, as a mandated reporter under Ohio Revised Code 2151.421, would be required to report any case of known or suspected physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect of a child to their local child welfare or law enforcement agency. So Bernard’s colleague would have had to make such a report to law enforcement at the same time he or she contacted Bernard. Presumably then a criminal case would have been opened.

 

Bernard declined to identify to the Fact Checker her colleague or the city where the child was located. “Thank you for reaching out. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any information to share,” she said in an email.

 

Dan Tierney, press secretary for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), said the governor’s office was unaware of any specific case but he said under the state’s decentralized system, records would be held at a local level. Thus, he said, it would be hard to confirm a report without knowing the local jurisdiction to narrow the search. He added: “The rape of a ten-year-old certainly would be newsworthy.”

 

As a spot check, we contacted child services agencies in some of Ohio’s most populous cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. None of the officials we reached were aware of such a case in their areas.

Read more
 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Recall, Obama played the same games with Obamacare. Remember the poor guy that couldn’t get insurance to pay for his cancer treatments and he died? Turned out, he had insurance, insurance paid EVERYTHING and he lived for 3 years of treatment. Obama lied about a mother who died because she had no insurance. Obama told several anecdotal lies about why Obamacare needed to be implemented. The question was, if there was such a dire need for it, why the lies?

So now we have this lie (probably) of the poor little raped 10 year old girl. Again, if the problem is so dire, why the need to lie? Why lie about “abortion outlawed”? Furthermore, why wait for the abortion for the 10 year old? Was she considering keeping the baby? 6 weeks is a long time; PLENTY of time. Did no one around her know what CAUSES pregnancy?

There are ample quantities of bullshit to go all around this tall tale. But, like mounted Border Patrol officers whipping Haitian immigrants, idiot Biden doesn’t hesitate to use any lie available to promote and support his (he is told) agenda.

Biden’s Claim Of 10-Year-Old Who Had To Cross State Lines For Abortion Is Called Into Question By Fact-Checkers

Here in Ohio, sources are saying the story is a hoax No family member or relatives or friends in the community have come forward to validate the story. It is another leftist hoax on par with rope nooses and graffitied black churches.

Last edited 2 years ago by TrumpWon

I do believe she is telling the truth. Why else would there be roughly 1 million abortions per year in the US? Are these women too stupid to figure out how not to get pregnant? Schools are giving out birth control pills and condoms like Pez candy. These women can’t abstain from intercourse sex for about 7-10 days per month? 
Yet, 1million per year get pregnant and have abortions. 360 Million people in the US. 180 Million female. About 50 million of childbearing age. So, 1 out of every 50 women are having an abortion? Way too many just getting pregnant accidentally and aborting the baby. They have to be trying to get pregnant with the intent to abort. 
So, yeah a lot of them like killing babies. I would stay very far from psychos like that.

Lie, cheat, murder, steal, covet, sloth, envy and proud of it. The DNC political platform.

Last edited 2 years ago by kitt