Roe V Wade: Bias on Abortion/planned Parenthood

Abortion is “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy”. Abortion began gaining its controversy once the United States began implementing abortion laws in the 1820s, more specifically after the Roe V. Wade case. Abortion laws first stated women could not have an abortion after four months of pregnancy and have changed. The Roe V. Wade case took place in 1973 where the United States Supreme court took on “the issue of the constitutionality of law that criminalized or restricted access to abortions”. The court ruled in favor of the fourteenth amendment and said women have the right to get an abortion but there are states that can say otherwise. States are essentially want to protect the human life/woman health. Initially, the case was settled making the states regulate abortion to the third trimester of pregnancy. Later in a different case, the court system rejected the trimester framework. At one point, abortion was deemed illegal. Abortion is one of the most talked about topics in the United States and has a lot of bias surrounding it.

Media bias is when journalists, tabloids, or news producers select stories or events to cover and how they interpret them. Fox News and The New York Times are two tabloids which give information to the public but also have bias associated with them. The United States needs to implement a way to eliminate bias in the media because it affects people in a negative way and only serves subjective stories, leaving out valuable information. In a survey done by Pew Research Center, they claim “Fox News was the main source for 40% of [republican] voters during the 2016 election” and “when it comes to choosing a media source…conservatives orient strongly around Fox News”. This means individuals that are conservatives, right-leaning, tend to favor this source to view political or world topics. Meanwhile, The New York Times is seen as more liberal. Pew Research Center also conducted a survey on this source and found that “the audience for the New York Times as consistently liberal and since the 60’s The New York Times has only endorsed Democratic Presidential Candidates”. One can see that both Fox News and The New York Times serve a type of bias while informing the public about information.

Currently, social media and news networks have had a huge impact/influence on individuals. News outlets such as CNN, the New York Times, Fox New, and the Washington Post provide information, political and economical, to the public. Certain media outlets provide information based on their following, democratic or republican and the way they show/display the information can an influential impact. Bias by omission is when the media strongly supports one political side over the other is and they fail to provide information, leaving out the views of the other party. For example, the New York Times composes articles based on their liberal fan base. In Will the Supreme Court Overturn Roe V. Wade After All?, the article discusses about the possibility of the Roe V. Wade case being overruled. The article only discusses about the situation regarding Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and his retirement, possibly overruling the Roe V. Wade case. The article never states what would happen if the case got overruled. It fails to discuss how “Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Dakota” would ban abortion if the case gets overruled. The New York Times did this so the individuals who lived in those states or states where people would want abortion banned could not be informed of how much closer they are to getting this passed. They also failed to discuss the possibility of Trump violating women’s right by imposing this overrule. Similarly, Fox News published Abortion, Roe v. Wade at center of Supreme Court nominee debate: What could happen to the landmark law? This article adds a tremendous focus on Judge Brett Kavanaugh rather than the topic itself. Fox News fails to discuss why this overruling could be beneficial to the conservative party or how it could be detrimental to the liberal party. A majority of abortion information that is found on the media is one sided, meaning the tabloid or publisher has a certain view on the topic which is discretely implemented into their information. When reading about the Roe V. Wade case, most information will leave out either the conservative or liberal side to get their point across. They want themselves to sound as if their answer if the only one right, and somewhat disregard the other political view.

Another way the tabloids create a bias is through labeling. When reading an article or watching a video, Americans can get very fixated on labels and people’s perception can change. In the article by the New York Time, Louise Melling states “Most recently, Chief Justice Roberts rebunked President Trump for attacking a judge as an ‘Obama judge’ declaring that there are no Obama judges or Trump judges, only judges”. President Trump actually responded to Chief Roberts and said “Sorry…but you do indeed have Obama judges”. By Donald Trump labeling judges as “Obama Judges” he is stating that since Obama has appointed judges, they are going to sway with whatever he believes/wants. This is very problematic because it is indicating that the “Obama judges” will only vote on views which are democratic and disregard the conservative views, vice versa. This makes people worry because someone of power is claiming there is a bias within the judges and those judges should be impartial. In the same way, Fox news claims those who are pro-choice “act as your own god” and called them “murders”. By saying women cannot “act as your own god” can have negative effects. That phrase can make a person feel like they hold a position of power because they are essentially comparing them to god. If the individuals do chose to have the abortion, it is on them to feel badly about themselves because they hold the power of the fetus’s life in their hands. Not to mention, the word murder has negative connotation associated with it. It is not only implying that the women killed an individual but that she killed the person herself. In this case, that is not true and the word association is driving away individuals from siding with pro-choice because of the negative word association. The negative word association happens with both groups, so it is not sided.

Aside omission and labeling, there is also bias by story selection. This includes when reporters/journalists use individuals to support their case. Also, when it “include[s] more sources that support one view over another”. This is very similar to bias by omission because it tries to only justify their political views. In the article by Fox News, there are subsections which include opinions by the public. Fox interviewed Aziza Ahmed, a Law professor at Northwestern University School, who specializes in abortion and health law. Professor Ahmed claims that if the Roe V. Wade case were overturned there would be “more laws limiting abortion [and they] would pass and be held as constitutional” and he also indicated abortion would be made illegal if the case were overturned. Fox News is only including information that will better the conservative side rather than including liberal views as well, making Fox News look more credible. On the contrary, the New York Times article serves as platform to see the “judges bias”. President trump only appointed Brett Kavanaugh so he could help in overturning the vote on the case. They claim “President Trump promised to appoint justices who would overrule Roe V. Wade” which means the President will do anything to overrule cases. This is aiding in their case because the judges Trump appoints will automatically vote his way. The New York Times also wrote “The question now is not what the Supreme Court soothsayers will tell us, but whether Chief Justice Roberts and his fellow conservatives uphold the integrity of the court, or use their new majority to deliver on Trump’s promise”. That statement basically is saying the justice either will vote impartially or give trump what he wanted. The New York Times is only using these tidbits to better their case on judge bias, not the case itself.

When it comes to credible facts/sources it is very hard to find them. Many sites have a bias implemented in them and individuals do not even notice it. Fact checking is very important because it allows the readers to view if the information they are attaining is true or false. People need to be educating themselves with proper unbiased information so they can have a impartial view on topics. The sources Will the Supreme Court Overturn Roe V. Wade After All? and Abortion, Roe v. Wade at center of Supreme Court nominee debate: What could happen to the landmark law? both had information that was mildly truthful. For example, it is true that Trump wanted to appoint a judge who would vote the way Trump wants the law to pass. Also, another truth is that people use very harsh negative language with word association regarding pro-choice people. Not to mention there were lies seen in the articles. When the outlet claimed the judges vote according to who elected them, is a lie because most judges stay neutral and tend to vote on how they think it will help society/people. They vote according to what the people want and need.

Abortion is a controversial topic which makes attainting unbiased information hard to find. News outlets like Infowars, Fox News, and The Blaze tend to have more conservative views meanwhile, Palmer Report, The Huffington Post, and The New York Times have more liberal views. If an individual wants to become educated in a certain political topic they should use impartial sources like ABC News or TIME because those sources do not “have a favorite [political party], or opinion that would color [individuals] judgment”. The 1973 United States Supreme court case, Roe V. Wade is crucial when discussing “constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion”. Some people were shocked when they learned American’s supported the ruling of the Supreme court and today approximately 27% of people living in the United States do not want to see the case get overturned simply because American’s believe individuals have the constitutional right, 14th amendment, to have access to an abortion. The United States is notoriously known for creating biased articles which impair people’s judgment. Individuals need to look for impartial solutions like ABC News to aid them in creating beliefs or while choosing political sides, especially when it comes to political topics which have great importance.

Works Cited

1. Lewis, Jone Johnson. “A Brief History of the Abortion Controversy in the United States.” Thoughtco., Dotdash, www.thoughtco.com/history-of-abortion-3528243.
2. Reilly, Katie. “Trump Attacks 'Obama Judges' After Roberts Rebuke.” Time, Time, 21 Nov. 2018, time.com/5461827/donald-trump-judiciary-chief-justice-john-roberts/.
3. Parenthood, Planned. “Roe v. Wade: The Constitutional Right to Access Safe, Legal Abortion.” Planned Parenthood Action Fund, National - PPACTION, www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade.
4. “Fox News.” Media Bias/Fact Check, mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news/.
5. “New York Times.” Media Bias/Fact Check, mediabiasfactcheck.com/new-york-times/.
6. “What Could Happen If Roe v. Wade Gets Struck down?” The Washington Post, WP Company, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/abortion-rights-supreme-court/?utm_term=.5b1c54318d56.
7. “What Could Happen If Roe v. Wade Gets Struck down?” The Washington Post, WP Company, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/abortion-rights-supreme-court/?utm_term=.5b1c54318d56.
8. “Unbiased - Dictionary Definition.” Vocabulary.com, www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/unbiased.