MSNBC Crusades for Tax-Funded Abortion

MSNBC Crusades for Tax-Funded Abortion

This Thanksgiving, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and others in the pro-abortion cohort should put MSNBC atop their “What We’re Thankful For” lists. The cable network has come out as a strident supporter of federally funded abortion.

Network personalities including Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews and Dylan Ratigan have been reciting liberal talking points regarding the Stupak Amendment in the House’s health care reform bill. The amendment would prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for insurance coverage of elective abortions.

Schultz, for one, claimed the Stupak Amendment “throws us back to the dark ages” but the main thrust of the network’s coverage of the amendment focused on two things: that Catholic bishops have no place in politics and that the amendment was a tool to restrict women’s access to affordable insurance coverage. And Ratigan even went so far as to accuse a pro-life activist of lying about the amendment, despite fact checks by other news organizations that indicated her assessment was correct.

Snyderman, the chief NBC medical correspondent as well as host of MSNBC’s noon show “Dr. Nancy,” was especially vocal about her feelings regarding the Stupak Amendment. She claimed on Nov. 9 that it “really tighten[ed] the chance for a woman’s right to choose” and stated that it was “infuriating.” Later in the week she agreed with National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill that the IRS should investigate the U.S. Conference Catholic Bishops for its role in the passage of the amendment.

As Snyderman is a friend of Hillary Clinton’s and a contributor to the Democratic party, her stance on abortion should not surprise anybody. But her outright advocacy in favor of federally funded abortion should call into question her objectivity as a journalist.

Anita Dunn, the soon-to-be former White House communications director told the New York Times that MNSBC was “progressive but not partisan.” Based on the outrage coming from the network’s personalities about the Stupak amendment, a more accurate characterization would be “shills for the Democratic party.”