In a sane world, a U.S. governor enthusiastically endorsing late-term abortion up to the moment of birth would be a major news event.
But we don’t live in a sane world, so you’ll have to look past the national news media to learn that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday endorsed Democratic Del. Kathy Tran’s ultra-permissive abortion bill, which allows for children to be terminated even when the mother is dilating. You’ll have to look even harder to see that the governor also maybe-kinda-sorta endorsed post-birth abortion.
Though this should be a big deal for newsrooms, Northam’s comments earned scant coverage Wednesday from the networks, cable news, and the nation’s leading newspapers. The newsrooms that talk the loudest about the importance of the Fourth Estate were instead too busy obsessing over a potential White House bid by the guy who used to run Starbucks.
It should be noted that most Americans hold a moderate position on abortion, and that means very, very few (13 percent in a Gallup poll from June 2018) believe third trimester abortions should be legal.
“When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother with the consent of the physicians — more than one physician, by the way,” Northam, who is himself a pediatrician, said Wednesday in a radio interview.
His remarks, which came after he was asked specifically to say whether he supports Tran’s bill, continued. This is where things take a turn for the remarkable:
Hours after his interview, the governor’s office sought to clean up his comments, apparently noticing that they appear to endorse letting perfectly treatable newborn infants die without care if that’s the will of the mother. But he need hardly have bothered.
ABC, CBS, and NBC News made no mention whatsoever of the governor’s interview during their morning and evening newscasts, according to an analysis by NewsBusters. CNN and MSNBC similarly ignored the story Wednesday evening, according to a separate report by the same group. Only Fox News covered Northam’s remarks throughout the day.
Over in the world of print, the New York Times’ only contribution to covering the Northam interview was to cross-post an Associated Press report that focused entirely on the reaction to what the governor said, not the fact that he said it. The Washington Post, which is local to the controversy, likewise published the AP story alone with a single original report examining conservative “backlash” to the governor’s interview. USA Today, the third most circulated paper in the United States, didn’t cover the story at all.
For further perspective, here’s a chart showing all television and radio mentions of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz compared to mentions of Ralph Northam (via TVEyes):
A United States governor comes out in full support of abortions up to and perhaps beyond the moment of birth, which a majority of Americans have strongly opposed since abortion became legal, and this is the best coverage our press can muster?
With a press like this, the most powerful in this country have nothing to fear. The most defenseless, on the other hand, have every reason to be afraid.
