With only three days until Tuesday’s general election, Alabama Media Group published a fear-mongering, dishonest article about Amendment Two on the statewide ballot.
This comes after the same liberal publication on Thursday was criticized for its “fake news” coverage of supposed “voter suppression” in Alabama (Secretary of State John Merrill has called the reporting “a lie”) and after one of its most prominent columnists published a misleading piece on all four of the proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.
The latest article, which might as well have been written by Planned Parenthood, opens with the reporter asserting, “The broad wording of Alabama’s proposed Amendment 2 could affect women who miscarry and those seeking in vitro fertilization.”
Throughout the article, the only source used to back up this (false) claim is a doctor who is “one of the few abortion providers left practicing in Alabama,” who, in the writeup, even admits to having a “passion for abortion.”
In a brazenly incorrect part of Alabama Media Group’s broader dishonesty, the doctor says that the pro-life constitutional amendment would “pave the way for women who miscarry to be scrutinized under the law,” meaning they could face prosecution for a miscarriage.
The article transitions to claiming that “low-income women and women of color” would be disproportionally affected by this fictitious concern, adding, “Mothers without access to prenatal care could be at risk of prosecution if their pregnancy did not make it to birth.”
After making a similarly false assertion about in vitro fertilization, the article implies that these types of actions are part of an organized “agenda” by Republicans in the state. As the Alliance for a Pro-life Alabama’s Rick Renshaw said, Alabama Media Group is spreading the “lies and scare tactics put forth by Planned Parenthood.”
These “lies” have been debunked time and time again this election cycle already. Even the objective Fair Ballot Commission confirmed, “The proposed amendment does not identify any specific actions or activities as unlawful.”
Now, I want to be clear – the Alabama Media Group’s reporting is fraudulent, and it is intentionally so. Why publish such an inflammatory article just three days ahead of Election Day? And why else rely on an admittedly biased doctor (instead of a lawyer, constitutional expert, policy analyst, elected official, anyone with common sense, etc.) to make your case? Because the publication is lying and is doing so for political reasons, acting as a de facto arm of the Democratic Party.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
