By Ramesh Ponnuru
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, recently challenged
critics of her organization to show her an example of bias in its stories. In a couple of
minutes, I gathered a few examples on just one topic: abortion.
Here’s a report on the release of the Dobbs decision in
which the first and last words are given to the “searing” dissent.
Here’s a “fact check” of “7 persistent claims” about abortion, also
from the year Dobbs came down. A few notes: a) None of these claims is
persistently made or shown to be “popular.” Have you ever heard anyone say that
“The only people getting abortions are straight, cisgender women”? b) The
supposed myths are not disproven. “People are getting abortions late in
pregnancy” is not contradicted by “Over 90% of abortions happen in the first
trimester.” c) Some of the supposed myths come out from the story stronger.
“After Roe, abortions skyrocketed” is an accurate statement. The
supposed refutation: “While the abortion rate increased significantly in the
decade after Roe v. Wade, it has since decreased to below the 1973 level.”
d) Every supposed myth has a pro-life valence.
From the same year, two headlines: “Why Abortion Access Is Important For A Healthy Community”
and “As the Supreme Court Ends Its Term, The Christian Nationalist
Right Keeps Winning.”
And here’s a 2019 memo from NPR on its practices in reporting on
abortion, explaining, among other things, that it is “incorrect” to use the
word “baby” at any stage of pregnancy. (I commented on the memo at the time.)
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