Roe-ing Away - Covering Repro Deniers on Your Beat
Roe-ing Away - Covering Repro Deniers on Your Beat
Top Story: Roe-ing Away: How to Cover Repro Rights Deniers on Your Beat.
A little history.
In 2004, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry was lambasted for flip-flopping on a series of key issues.
The press crucified him. And Republicans handed out flip flops with his name on them at the Republican National Convention.
The story was clear. Kerry couldn't be trusted.
The story about Trump’s recent flip over the most consequential issues facing the lives of American women, - is also clear.
It is not what Trump and his cronies are saying. It is how much what they are saying differs from what they and the Republican Party are doing. (Hint: Roe is just the beginning for authors of Project 2025, the 800-plus page Heritage Foundation salvo on what the Republicans intend to do if Trump is elected.)
The report notes that in the works is "a pro-life task force” to ensure that the federal government uses its “authority” to prohibit women from making reproductive healthcare choices on their own.
If love is an action verb, so is public service. It doesn't matter what Republicans say about Roe - it matters what they do.
How to Report on 2024 Candidates Flipping on Roe
Evaluate trustworthiness. Clarify whether the pol in question is generally trustworthy, or a spreader of misinformation.
(Hint: Election deniers, climate deniers, people who tell their constituents that Jan. 6 was a peaceful protest are not credible. You should clarify for readers if this is a person who has a history of lying.)
Check voting records. Report on how the pol in question has voted on reproductive rights in the past.
Report on past extreme language, calling abortion “murder” etc. As it would seem irresponsible for a candidate who believes abortion is murder to suddenly decide murder is ok.
Report on any anti-choice groups who support the candidate.
(Hint: Anti-choice groups support and fund only anti-choice candidates.)
Ask questions: “Why the flip?” “What about your supporters?” “What about your previous votes?” “What about your previous comments?”
If answers aren’t forthcoming, report that.
None of us really know whether these Republican are earnest in their flip. Republicans have lied to Americans repeatedly in recent years. This story must be put in that context.
STORY IDEA
What are local chapters of anti-choice groups saying about the new position of some Republicans on abortion. If there is a rift, report that. If not, explore how they could so drastically change their position. Perhaps, they too doubt the validity of the candidates’ words.
Here are some anti-choice groups:
Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America
Students for Life
The Faith and Freedom Coalition
National Right to Life
CatholicVote
Also In The News
Murder She Wrote: Kari Lake decides abortion isn’t murder, after all.
Trump moderate on abortion? The groups who support him aren't.
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Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Managing Editor Christen Gall
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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