MediaWatch: July 1992
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: July 1992
- Media Money Funds Democrats
- NewsBites: The Wrong Rights
- Revolving Door: Special Report: Democrats Covering Democrats
- Networks Decry Difficulties for Teens Seeking Abortions
- Style Triumphs Over Substance of Summit
- Bored By KGB Archives
- Clinton's Media Fans
- Janet Cooke Award: CBS: Blind "Eye of the Earth"
Networks Decry Difficulties for Teens Seeking Abortions
PARENTAL CONSENT, TV DISSENT
The Supreme Court's June 29 ruling upholding most of Pennsylvania's abortion law had network reporters mourning the consequences in exaggerated tones. Reporters predicted the law's provisions for informed consent, parental consent, and a 24-hour waiting period would cause many women to seek abortions in other states.
On ABC's World News Tonight, reporter Carole Simpson reported from the Allentown Women's Center, showing a 21-year-old woman who said she would have become a single mother on welfare had the Pennsylvania law been in effect a few years ago. Simpson concluded: "Abortion rights advocates say if necessary they will help women travel to neighboring states to get abortions; a way to avoid restrictions the Supreme Court did not find burdensome, but that many women in Pennsylvania may."
On the CBS Evening News, anchor Bob Schieffer declared: "The Supreme Court may have upheld the principle that a woman has the right to an abortion, but the reality is that in some places, it is still difficult to get one. After today, it could be even more difficult." Reporter Edie Magnus found an under-age "Jane Doe" from Ohio who got an abortion in another state rather than tell her parents. Magnus worried about the availability of abortion: "Pro-choice activists say even a strong volunteer network won't reach every woman who wants an abortion, particularly in rural areas. And most of the women who get abortions will be directly affected by the restrictions upheld today. Fully a third are minors, and fully a third are poor, making travel to other states that much harder."
The next night, Dateline NBC also featured a story on another anonymous Ohio teen who got an abortion. In favor of unchallenged teen abortions were the anonymous teen "Linda," and pro-abortion attorneys Al Gerhardstein and Evelyn Maier. On the other side, NBC used only state legislator Gerry Luebbers. Reporter Deborah Roberts explained that abortion proponents find laws allowing women to seek a judge's permission instead of parental notification "humiliating" and a "grueling ordeal for a teenager."
But ABC and CBS didn't quote anyone in favor of parental consent laws, even though 71 percent of the public supports them. Only CNN pointed out the Pennsylvania restrictions, usually described as "severe," were enormously popular. For months, CNN-USA Today polls have shown that all four Pennsylvania restrictions were favored by strong majorities of Americans.
