The Washington Post reported something surprising on April 29 -- a hidden-camera expose by pro-life advocates. On the front page of the Metro section, the Post reported how a veteran D.C. abortion doctor named Cesare Santangelo told a 24-week pregnant woman that in the unlikely event that an abortion resulted in a live birth, "we would not help it."
"(T)echnically, you know, legally, we would be obligated to help it, you know, to survive, but it probably wouldn't," he said in a way to reassure the woman who was working for the undercover group Live Action.
The legal technicality is the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, to ensure that that any baby "mistakenly" born during an abortion has all the rights of any other living, breathing human. When it passed and was signed by President Bush, the networks also completely censored that.
It tells you something about the precarious nature of America's soul that such a law even needs to exist.
Live Action also released an expose of another abortion clinic, Dr. Emily's Women's Health Center in the Bronx. The Live Action mother in that video asked what happens if a child is accidentally born during an attempt at a late-term abortion. An unnamed staffer advised on the video to "flush" the baby down the toilet if he or she was delivered at home before the final stage of the two- or three-day abortion procedure. "If it comes out, then it comes out. Flush it. ... if anything, you know, put it in a bag or something or somewhere and bring it to us."
When Live Action's undercover investigator asked what the clinic would do if, after the abortion, the baby was moving, the counselor responded: "If it did come out in one piece, it's very small. So they would still have to put it in a container -- like, a jar -- with solution and send it to the lab." But if the baby is breathing or twitching? "The solution will make it stop. It's not going to be moving around in the jar. That's the whole purpose of the solution."
All on tape. This callus murder plot sounds all too familiar to those following the just-concluded trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia. It is the culture of death on display -- pure evil.
The networks adore hidden-camera stories when the targets are conservative. Last September, they gave 88 minutes when Mother Jones reporting Mitt Romney was secretly recorded dismissing the "47 percent" that would never vote for him, which probably cost him the election.
When Mother Jones recently leaked video of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's team talking about the vulnerabilities of actress Ashley Judd as a Democratic opponent, ABC and NBC reported it in the evening and then again the next morning, with CBS just catching up in the morning. ABC's Jim Avila said the Republican leader's "private and politically embarrassing strategy session" showed a "cutthroat attack on a Hollywood opponent."
Undercover videos by conservatives -- those don't deserve the light of day. When Live Action exposed Planned Parenthood clinics in New Jersey and Virginia in 2011, with its clinic staff advising a "pimp" on how to evade the law with underage prostitutes, these three networks simply pretended the tapes didn't exist. When James O'Keefe and his activists exposed the leftist pro-Obama group ACORN with hidden cameras in 2009, the networks waited for days to touch it and then aired just one solitary story (ABC, CBS) or three (NBC) once Congress moved to defund them. But Mother Jones is somehow a non-ideological outfit of journalistic integrity.
The Washington Post explained, "Live Action was founded by Rose, a former associate of conservative activist James O'Keefe, whose controversial stings contributed to the demise of the liberal group ACORN." But on April 11, the Post wrote a story celebrating how David Corn at Mother Jones, the "liberal-leaning magazine" was striking "audio gold." They didn't talk about "controversial stings." The Post rounded up other liberal journalists to laud Corn as "passionate, innovative and always at the edge."
The Post also felt it necessary to reflect on the controversial nature of these (conservative) videos. Dr. Santangelo was very upset about how he was "tripped up" by a "hypothetical at a moment when he was trying to reassure a client." He said he has not watched the video because "I don't like to feed into these people. I really consider them terrorists."
The Gosnell murder trial is now in the hands of the jurors. While they ponder, let us ponder:
CNN: Some coverage, not much.
Fox News: Some coverage, not much.
CBS: Two segments and a couple of tiny updates.
NBC. One question to Obama.
ABC: Nothing.
The Live Action videos? Crickets on ABC, CBS and NBC.
L. Brent Bowell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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