Not surprisingly, liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow led off the Tuesday edition of her eponymous show by opining on the House hearing featuring Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and lamenting how “the whole Republican Party is more unified to try to destroy Planned Parenthood than they are unified on anything else” with their “demagoguery” that she determined worked out “very badly” for them.
Abortion
Shaky: Cecile Richards' Claim That 'Less Than 1%' of PP Clinics Dispose of Fetal Tissue for Compensation
By Tom Blumer | September 29, 2015 | 11:37 PM EDT In Congressional testimony Monday and Tuesday, Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards twisted the truth in several instances.
One of them had to to with how many of its facilities are involved in the provision of fetal tissue for compensation. She may be technically telling the truth about how many are involved at this moment, but it's clear that far more have been — at least until recently.
Networks Hype ‘Spirited,’ ‘Unfazed’ Planned Parenthood President in Coverage of ‘Five-Hour Interrogation’
By Curtis Houck | September 29, 2015 | 9:58 PM EDT Hours after Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards testified Tuesday before the House Oversight Committee concerning the videos that have embroiled the abortion provider in scandal over the selling of aborted baby parts, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC rushed to the defense of the “unfazed” and “spirited” Richards as she “endured a five-hour interrogation” by the GOP.
New Republic Writer: Backing Fiorina On PP Videos Shows That Conservatism Is ‘Defined By…Imagined Victimization’
By Tom Johnson | September 29, 2015 | 9:28 PM EDT CJ Pearson, the 13-year-old conservative social-media star, could use a few good role models, suggested TNR’s Brian Beutler in a Monday article. After noting that Pearson has been “revealed as the perpetrator of a number of hoaxes,” Beutler mused that such behavior isn’t surprising given the ideological company the youngster keeps.
“He's coming of age in a movement that often treats reality as subordinate to perception; that will embrace obvious distortions of facts if doing so might move the needle of public opinion,” alleged Beutler, who claimed that some of those factual distortions were found in Carly Fiorina’s statements about the Planned Parenthood videos during the recent Republican presidential debate.
By Scott Whitlock | September 29, 2015 | 5:00 PM EDT
MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts got a big surprise on Tuesday when he tried to use the mother of a stillborn child to attack a pro-life organization’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Roberts talked to Lexi Oliver Fretz about her deceased son Walter. Roberts attacked, “How do you feel about Walter's picture used to discredit Planned Parenthood?” Fretz explained that while she was surprised to see her son used to illustrate a grisly description in the video, “My husband and I are actually extremely pro-life.”
By Matthew Balan | September 29, 2015 | 2:08 PM EDT
On Tuesday's CNN Newsroom, Carol Costello treated Planned Parenthood's own talking points about "three percent" of its services are abortions as "facts." Costello emphasized that "$500 million in federal funds goes to Planned Parenthood. None of that money...pays for abortions....Planned Parenthood says only three percent of their services are dedicated to abortion. The group says 97 percent of its services are for things like...breast exams...cancer screenings and contraception."
By Brad Wilmouth | September 29, 2015 | 11:58 AM EDT
As Representative Daniel Webster appeared as a guest on Tuesday's New Day on CNN to discuss his intention to run for Speaker of the House of Representatives, substitute co-host John Berman pressed the Florida Republican to vow to work against a government shutdown in the face of calls by some GOPers to defund Planned Parenthood.
By Scott Whitlock | September 29, 2015 | 11:41 AM EDT
All three networks on Tuesday hyped Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards appearing before Congress, insisting the pro-abortion leader will “staunchly defend” her organization in the wake of the sting videos. During the news briefs, ABC and CBS didn’t show any of hidden videos.
By Curtis Houck | September 29, 2015 | 7:22 AM EDT
Filling in for Anderson Cooper on Monday’s AC360, John Berman chided Carly Fiorina spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores over Fiorina’s outspoken criticism of Planned Parenthood in the wake of their aborted baby parts video scandal with the CNN host imploring Flores to consider admitting that her boss “is getting it wrong” about the content of the videos.
By Scott Whitlock | September 28, 2015 | 4:10 PM EDT
A snide Time magazine chided the organization behind the Planned Parenthood sting videos, insisting that “fury often matters more than facts.” In the October 5 issue, Alex Altman profiled David Daleiden and lectured, “In the midst of a political storm, fury can often matter more than the facts. An activist with an agenda can shape policies that affect millions.”
By Brad Wilmouth | September 28, 2015 | 12:24 PM EDT
On Monday's New Day on CNN, anchor Chris Cuomo complained about Republicans wanting to defund Planned Parenthood as he questioned the "urgency" of doing so "before you investigate the allegations," leading guest and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to decry the "grotesque" revelations about the abortion provider.
During a discussion of House Speaker John Boehner's announced resignation and the impact it could have on whether there is a government shutdown as Republicans try to defund Planned Parenthood, Cuomo fretted:
By Clay Waters | September 28, 2015 | 12:04 PM EDT
New York Times' reporter Jackie Calmes has been the paper's pointman in its journalistic campaign in defense of the nation's largest abortion provider, in the wake of undercover videos by David Daleiden documenting the callous sale of baby organs for money, sometimes without the knowledge of the mothers. Calmes, whose reporting has reliably shifted the subject from the gruesome videos to alleged Republican "overreach," laid out the organization's defense strategy on Sunday: "Reacting to Videos, Planned Parenthood Fights to Regain Initiative."