Last week Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks.
As The Free Press reported back in May, that moves America from being an outlier on abortion, by permitting the procedure at 24 weeks, to in line with most of Europe.
Among European nations 39 of the 42 allow elective abortion without the mother providing a reason ban the procedure at 15 weeks or earlier.
GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was an advocate of Graham’s measure. And when the media asked why, he replied, “I’ve always been pro-life.”
But for Rubio, the issue then took a turn.
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Rubio challenged reporters to ask Democrats what restrictions they support. He then noted, “Democrats won’t vote for any restriction of any kind on abortion.”
The two-term senator then took the unusual step of actually asking reporters for their own opinions on abortion restrictions. It did not go well — for the media.
Rubio’s office contacted 55 different reporters from 40 major news organizations, including many of the largest newspapers in Florida and the 20 largest papers in America, and asked if they or any of their colleagues had ever asked Democrats in Congress of the White House “real questions” about abortion.
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Specifically, Rubio’s staff asked reporters if they had ever asked Democrats the following questions:
- What, if any, restrictions they support on abortion?
- When is an unborn child considered viable?
- Whether abortion providers like Planned Parenthood can provide a “good-faith” medical judgment that “continuation of pregnancy” would pose “a risk” to the pregnant woman’s “life or health” after viability?
Rubio’s staff told every reporter that non-answers would be treated as an admission that they had never asked Democrats those types of questions.
Of the 40 organizations, only three responded.
As Rubio’s office noted, one reporter responded with “I have asked those questions,” but then never followed up when Rubio’s staff asked for links to reports to prove it.
Another journalist replied with, “Why does a public official think it’s ok to ask questions to news organizations on this issue?” That reporter also participated in a back-and-forth but never answered any questions about the original challenge.
Finally, Business Insider wrote a short article about Rubio’s “combative” inquiry, but again refused to address the issue.
In a statement, Rubio slammed the media for their hypocrisy.
“This highlights two major problems we have in this country,” Rubio explained of his challenge.
“First, reporters believe no one is allowed to ask them questions. They take offense at the idea that you, me, or anyone else should dare to question the sanctity of their reporting,” Rubio said in a statement. “That arrogant, dismissive attitude is exactly why there is a crisis of confidence in our nation’s news outlets. They truly think they are better than everyone else.”
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The other problem, Rubio said, is that “Democrats get away with murder, literally.”
“They are never pushed to answer specific questions about where they stand on the taking of human life. The truth is that every single Democrat supports taxpayer-funded abortion without any restrictions up until the moment a child is born. That is the truth, but Democrats never have to explain their radical position, because the press is all too willing to cover for them,” Rubio maintained.
The Florida senator also pointed out that many reporters claimed a Democratic bill, the Women’s Health Protection, which recently passed the House in a party-line vote, contains abortion restrictions.
But he quickly torpedoed that argument with the following:
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explained in opposing the bill that it has no “meaningful limitations” on ending a pregnancy.
- Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia once said that the bill “wipes 500 state laws off the books. It expands abortion.”
- The conservative National Review argued it is “a barbaric abortion bill that would enshrine in federal law a virtually unlimited right to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in all 50 states.”
“These reporters and editors know that no one on the right trusts them, so they don’t even bother being fair. There is no benefit to asking Democrats tough questions because their readers—the people that pay their salaries—don’t want to hear it,” Rubio said. “Besides, they agree with the Democrats anyway.”
Not a single outlet bothered to provide documentation it had asked Democrats a single tough question on abortion.
Among the news outlets polled by Rubio were the website Florida Politics, the Orlando Sentinel, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Tampa Bay Times, the Miami Herald, and the Palm Beach Post.
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