Birth Control

NYT, MSNBC Uncritically Relay Reid's 'Five White Men' Rant Against Court's Hobby Lobby Majority
By Tom Blumer | July 9, 2014 | 9:15 PM EDT

On Tuesday, Harry Reid told the press that "the one thing we're going to do, during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women's lives are not determined by virtue of five white men. This Hobby Lobby decision is outrageous, and we're going to do something about it."

Obviously, Reid's statement assailing the Supreme Court majority in the Hobby Lobby decision is incorrect, as black African-American Clarence Thomas was among the five justices who defended the religious freedom of the Green family which owns and runs Hobby Lobby. Ordinarily, in an obvious gaffe involving a Democratic Party politican, coverage would be sparse. But in this case, there are at least two instances where an establishment press outlet actually reported Reid's statement without pointing out that it was wrong. One occurred at the New York Times.

Say What? 'View' Co-host Sherri Shepherd Defends Hobby Lobby
By Jackie Seal | July 9, 2014 | 3:53 PM EDT

Wednesday morning’s episode of The View got a bit heated when the panel decided to weigh in on the Supreme Court’s controversial Hobby Lobby ruling. Liberal guest host and former CNN legal analyst, Sunny Hostin sought to inform the audience of the “scary” and “dangerous” decision made by the Supreme Court.

Curiously enough, Sherri Shepherd offered “another opinion” and stood by Hobby Lobby by attempting to explain the strongly-held religious beliefs of the company's owners. That's when Hostin, a former ABC World News Now anchor, erupted, “No. Sherri, you are so wrong on this!”

Andrea Mitchell Laments Democrat's Contraception Legislation Won’t ‘Get Through Congress’
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 9, 2014 | 1:23 PM EDT

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who is known for softball interviews with pro-abortion activists, appeared distraught during her Andrea Mitchell Reports program on Wednesday, July 9 at the chances of a Democratic bill meant to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby passing Congress. 

Speaking with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, Mitchell fretted that the bill “can get through the Senate, but it’s not going to get through Congress.” [See video below.] 

Hobby Lobby Hysteria! Salon Writer Claims ‘This is a Religious Civil War’
July 8, 2014 | 7:53 PM EDT

Liberals have been spewing absolute nonsense since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood, and several other businesses that filed a suit against the HHS contraception mandate. Salon’s Paul Rosenberg is no different, except the fevered, high-pitched whine of his hysteria makes one suspect that, whatever he pays his drycleaner, it ain’t enough. 

In a July 8 piece at Salon, Rosenberg actually tried to make the case that “right-wing propaganda about “‘religious liberty’” is a smokescreen to hide the fact that conservatives are pushing for  “the advancement of theocracy,” or as Rosenberg put it “ religious dictatorship.” Yes, because SCOTUS didn’t find an absolute right to free birth control in the Constitution, we’re headed for inquisition, forced conversions and heretic burnings, and all the other theocratic nightmares of the dark days of … 2008. 

Sarah Silverman To Hillary Clinton: 'What Men Would Put Up With Women Making Laws About Their Body?'
By Jackie Seal | July 8, 2014 | 4:32 PM EDT

Hillary Clinton sat down with Phoebe Greenwood of the left-wing British newspaper The Guardian last Friday to discuss a range of current event issues, responding to videotaped questions, including some from celebrities and politicians. Comedian Sarah Silverman was among them. Silverman wanted to know what Clinton’s plans will be “with women’s rights stuff” when she’s president. Silverman, referencing the Hobby Lobby decision, wanted to know “what men would ever put up with a woman making laws about what they can and can’t do with their bodies.”

Greenwood, not hiding her view of the topic, thought it necessary to explain Silverman’s question and framed it as an issue that “follows a raft of quite radical personhood bills that would seek to criminalize abortion and some forms of contraception.” The British journalist touted Clinton as a vocal advocate of women’s rights “for more than 20 years.” Greenwood then asked Clinton what she plans on doing “about these threats” and the “rollback on the right of American women to choose.”

Text ANDREA for Bias: MSNBC’s Mitchell Plugs Planned Parenthood Campaign On Air
By Laura Flint | July 7, 2014 | 5:30 PM EDT

Andrea Mitchell devoted three minutes of the July 7 edition of Andrea Mitchell Reports to assist Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards in promoting the abortion-clinic chain’s latest publicity gimmick.

What’s more, instead of inviting a conservative pundit on to rebut the guest or perhaps attempting an unbiased, tough-but-fair interview in the first place, Mitchell tag-teamed with Richards in denouncing the conservative wing of the Court – and logic would dictate, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer as well. [See video below. Click here for MP3 audio]

The Media's 'Real Women' at the Supreme Court
By Jeffrey Lord | July 5, 2014 | 12:00 PM EDT

The Washington Post is apoplectic.

In a front page story about a new Supreme Court decision involving birth control and Wheaton College, a conservative Christian school, the Post story  by Robert Barnes began this way: “The three female justices of the Supreme Court sharply rebuked their colleagues Thursday for siding with a Christian college in the latest battle over providing women with contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act, saying the court was retreating from assurances offered only days ago.”

NY Times Allows Atheists' Full-Page, Anti-Catholic Ad; Rejected 'Anti-Muslim' Ad in 2012
By Matthew Balan | July 3, 2014 | 2:38 PM EDT

The Federalist's David Harsanyi pointed out the New York Times's clear double standard when it comes to advertising in a Thursday post on Twitter. The writer recounted that the liberal paper "rejected an ad aimed at one religion" in 2012, but printed a full-page ad in Thursday's edition from the far-left Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), which blasted the "all-male, all-Roman Catholic majority" on the Supreme Court for its decision in the Hobby Lobby case.

Harsanyi linked to a March 15, 2012 item on the ultra-liberal Think Progress blog that spotlighted how the Times "rejected a full-page anti-Islam advertisement submitted by anti-Muslim activists Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer." What Think Progress left out was the fact that Geller and Spencer's ad was a response to a previous anti-Catholic ad from FFRF, as libertarian blogger David Volokh documented at the time:

Fmr. WashPost Editor Steve Coll Invokes Taliban in Critique of Hobby Lobby Ruling
By Tom Johnson | July 3, 2014 | 12:21 AM EDT

If you’re choosing one person who best represents America’s journalistic establishment, it’d be hard to top Steve Coll, a former Washington Post reporter and managing editor who’s now dean of Columbia University’s journalism school; a member of the Pulitzer Prize board; and a staff writer for the New Yorker.

On Wednesday, Coll posted a piece on the New Yorker’s website in which he argued that if the Supreme Court were to consistently apply the religious-freedom principle it endorsed in the Hobby Lobby case, it would have to allow an essentially Taliban-owned U.S. corporation to deny insurance coverage for polio vaccines for the children of its employees, since the Taliban believe that such vaccines, in Coll’s words, “violate God’s law.”

Fox Features Dana Loesch Schooling a Pro-Abortion Activist on Hobby Lobby
By Connor Williams | July 2, 2014 | 2:00 PM EDT

The July 1 edition of Hannity featured a rare occurrence for television: A liberal, pro-abortion activist had to listen to the conservative cause being articulated. Guest Dana Loesch of The Blaze slammed former NOW President Patricia Ireland's "horrible misunderstanding" of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling.

Ireland attempted to make the argument that the Hobby Lobby ruling could open up Pandora’s box to denying people health care entirely. Responding to Sean Hannity’s suggestion that Hobby Lobby is a family owned business that can have its own religious views, Ireland argued: “Okay, and what if that family were Christian Scientists, could they deny all health care?” [MP3 audio here; video below]

Conservative Women: Hobby Lobby Ruling Was The Pro-Life ‘Super Bowl’
By Katie Yoder | July 1, 2014 | 4:23 PM EDT

The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling isn’t anti-woman like the media are reporting, according to two influential conservative women. In fact, these women said that they were actually thrilled with the decision.

On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled that for-profit company owners with objections to providing coverage of abortion-inducing drugs for employees could be excluded from the Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate. Concerned Women for America Communications Director Alison Howard compared the decision to a “Super Bowl” for pro-lifers and supporters of religious freedom, while Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins called the event a “huge day” for both sides.

ABC's GMA Yawns at Hobby Lobby Ruling; Spotlights 'Running of the Interns'
By Matthew Balan | July 1, 2014 | 3:44 PM EDT

NBC and ABC omitted covering the Supreme Court's final two rulings from their Tuesday morning newscasts, despite the fact that the decisions came down after their Monday episodes aired. Only CBS This Morning set aside air time for the ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, which upheld the religious liberty rights of closely held corporations.

Viewers of ABC's Good Morning America might have guessed that the Supreme Court handed down some decisions, as the morning show devoted a full segment to the "running of the interns," where the summer interns of media outlets run copies of Court's "big rulings" to the journalists outside. GMA even held their own intern race, where the competitors run cups of iced coffee to the anchors inside the studio: [video below the jump]