Several must-reads on the most biased report I’ve ever seen:
Echidne of the Snakes: Pro-Life Objectivity
This, my dear readers, might be the new definition of objectivity in the faith-based society. A painstaking and careful attempt to present one-sided information and to stomp the opposition into silence. You might be interested in learning that the possible health risks of abortion are widely discussed but delivering a child is apparently without any risks whatsoever. Or that all the “victim statements” of abortion sufferers came through one person in Texas. Or that the Report argues for abstinence-only education in the Brave New World that would be created if its other recommendations are followed. Imagine that: you can give birth to a baby because your brother raped you but you can’t learn about condoms.
Thoughts of an Average Woman: South Dakota on Abortion
What should scare the beejeesus out of you, and each and every one of us, is the lack of objectivity. From the start, North Dakotians couldn’t possibly have had any expectations of objectivity from this task force, as 15 of the 17 members were anti-abortionists. You have to acknowledge that the report was biased, as even some of the anti-abortion-believing task-force members called this report biased, and untruthful.
The Well-Timed Period: The South Dakota Taskforce to Study Abortions Report
Again, according to the task force, the criteria used to judge credibility and competence are admitted biases and organizational affiliations. Not relevant education or profession. Not scientific fact. Not study methodology, or any of the other scientifically rigorous, established, and accepted criteria.
So what’s the problem with [at a minimum] Drs. Unruh and Wachs, and Senator Jay Duenwald? According to the task force’s own criteria, since they are advocates for lack of reproductive choice and members of activist organizations that support regulating abortion out of existence, with the admitted bias of stopping abortion, they are neither credible, nor competent. As such, they have no place on a task force to study abortions.
As the first installment of her series as she reads this report, this is a must-read. Ema is also an OB-GYN.
Or you can read the 72-page report for yourself, provided by the kindly women at Feministing. Keep your highlighter handy.