It seems media outlets only care about reporting on Planned Parenthood when its funding is threatened. When that happens, the liberal press goes ballistic.
When cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure cut funding to Planned Parenthood, the abortion mill reacted swiftly, with a press release that rallied its allies in the media to create a ruckus about losing more than $600,000 in funding. The liberal media echo chamber began ringing with howls of rage that the cancer charity would dare to say no to funding the abortion giant. Strangely, the three broadcast networks seemed to have difficulty locating Komen supporters to interview.
Traditional print media outlets such as the Washington Post and the New York Times (both of which ran Komen stories front page, above the fold) blasted Komen's decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood. Far-left media outlets funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, such as the Huffington Post, Think Progress, MoveOn.org, and Alternet, have launched vitriolic attacks on Komen.
The New York Times Editorial Board declared that Komen joined "on the side of hard-right forces working to demonize Planned Parenthood and undermine women's health and freedom." Komen's move, the Times said, was a "sharp departure from political neutrality." The editors didn't explain how continuing to fund Planned Parenthood, despite questions about whether it misuses funds to support its already booming abortion business, constitutes "political neutrality."
Unsurprisingly, the Times' reporting has been only slightly less one-sided, with one article beginning: "Pink ribbons have for decades been a symbol of resolve and compassion in the face of the deadly disease of breast cancer. Now, that nearly ubiquitous icon has many women seeing red."
The Washington Post lamented a feud "between two organizations that have helped millions of women," and trumpeted that Komen's "contradictory statements failed to quell a rising controversy that led several of the organization's affiliates to openly rebel."
On the Feb. 2 network evening news broadcasts, there were plenty of "man on the street" interviews with women outraged over the Komen decision. The only person featured to defend the Komen position was CEO Nancy Brinker from taped interviews with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, and her Youtube video explaining the decision. As a result, the broadcasts featured an average of 4.7 pro-Planned Parenthood statements to every one pro-Komen statement from those interviewed.
NBC's Brian Williams said the controversy has been "blown wide open in the last 24 hours." The word "controversy" implies differing opinions. But the ensuing "Nightly News" cast featured no less than eight negative responses to the Komen decision and a total of one woman (Komen CEO Nancy Brinker) left to defend the decision. Correspondent Lisa Myers featured the eight women's reaction to the decision, showing videos of women online stating "I'm just steaming over this," "how dare they," "That is just such disturbing and discouraging news" and "it was really awful - they should be ashamed of themselves."
To drive home her point, Myers then featured a few of the "thousands of angry posts" online that stated, "Shame shame shame on you selling out," "shredding any pink ribbons I've got" and "I will never donate again." A full 48 seconds of the segment was dedicated to women angry with Komen's decision to withdraw funding, while the lone voice in defense, Brinker, "struggled to contain the damage," in Myers' words. In fact, Myers actively undercut Brinker's efforts. After Brinker said the decision was not political, Myers insisted that "sources knowledgeable about the decision" claim it was from "pressure from anti-abortion groups."
ABC also had a problem understanding that when a "firestorm" of "controversy" has thousands "taking sides," it's customary to air more than one side. "World News with Diane Sawyer" could not find a single woman who supports Komen's decision. Instead, ABC aired three interviews with women squarely in Planned Parenthood's camp.
Despite quoting Brinker stating that the decision didn't result from "political pressure," ABC showed two women on camera, and read an email from a third who said Komen injected politics into the funding decision.
"It's very disturbing that the whole thing has become a political tool and that Komen is buying into that" said one woman, while another said, "I think it's really a shame...that they're letting politics come in the way of people's health." Then, after claiming to have read several emails on the subject, Sawyer followed up with, "one woman said she can't support them anymore because they politicized women's health."
Similarly, CBS spent a significant portion of its "Evening News" show focusing upon the negative reaction to Komen, despite the fact that there was "sharp reaction for and against that decision" according to anchor Scott Pelley. CBS dedicated one minute and 12 seconds (38 percent of the segment) to making Planned Parenthood look like the victim.
Such old media reporting was laughably dishonest, and perhaps it's too much to expect network "journalists" to have any pro-lifers in their Rolodex. But readers at Soros-funded left-wing outlets were also treated to strident denunciations of Komen and pro-lifers.
In several cases, the Soros-funded media outlets simply became forums for Planned Parenthood and its allies. The Huffington Post featured a piece from the head of Planned Parenthood herself, Cecile Richards, who predictably decried Komen's decision "as a blow to women all across America." Alternet published multiple blog posts from RH Reality Check, a pro-abortion blog, attacking "The Cancerous Politics and Ideology of the Susan G. Komen Foundation."
When Soros-funded outlets have not been busy serving as mouthpieces for Planned Parenthood, they have actively taken the abortion group's side. The Huffington Post, the flagship of the liberal echo-chamber, launched into full attack mode against Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Huffington Post's headline article on the night of February 2 touted how disgruntled officials were leaving Komen after its decision. Huffington Post contributor Jilly Gangon mocked Komen's decision by posting a "comedy" piece claiming that Komen was adopting a policy with a "new emphasis on stamping out breast cancer in the unborn."
The attacks of the Huffington Post against Komen are ironic considering the fact that the CEO of Komen, Nancy Brinker, posted on the Huffington Post on January 26, 2011 - 6 days before the controversy broke out.
Other left wing outlets have resorted to outright lies to attack the movement. Moveon.org provided a cartoon claiming that "doctors at Planned Parenthood" can "screen for breast cancer" - conveniently forgetting that Planned Parenthood doesn't provide mammograms.
One unhinged blogger, Kaili Joy Gray of the Daily Kos, claimed that Komen is "siding with the nation's extremists, who would rather see women die than receive health care that the little voices in their heads tell them is evil."
But a more realistic look shows that Komen has ample reason to halt its funding of Planned Parenthood - based on Planned Parenthood's treatment of women.
Planned Parenthood's track record concerning women is nothing short of abysmal. Planned Parenthood lied about providing mammograms on national television. A Planned Parenthood employee was shown on video covering up what she thought was sex trafficking. Planned Parenthood's is complicit in sex-selection abortions, which disproportionally target women.
And the group apparently encourages fantasies of violence towards those it disagrees with, as seen by this disgusting 2005 video produced by the San Francisco Planned Parenthood affiliate, which features a "pro-choice" superhero killing pro-lifers in the guise of zombies with a condom gun.
But these unsavory aspects of Planned Parenthood will never be told in the liberal echo-chamber. Nor by the networks, which were distinctly uncurious about the group's scandals last year. It remains to be seen if they report the fact that since the decision to cease funding Planned Parenthood was announced, Komen's donations have risen by 100 percent.
The shrieking of the liberal echo chamber, demanding that a cancer charity support a group that has covered up sex trafficking against women and lied about providing mammograms, proves that so-called "progressives" who claim to support women and "choice" are in reality solely focused on the right of an abortion giant to kill unborn children.
Erin R. Brown contributed to this report.
