Democrats in Virginia this week flirted with infanticide when discussing a proposed bill in the Virginia House of Delegates, but you wouldn’t know it if you read legacy media outlets.
The abortion debate exploded on Tuesday when Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran defended a bill she introduced eliminating restrictions on late-term abortions. Tran explained that the bill would hypothetically allow doctors to perform abortions while a mother is in the process of giving birth. (EXCLUSIVE: Trump Rips Virginia Democrats’ Abortion Comments)
Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam chimed in on the conversation during a radio interview Wednesday morning, asserting that mothers and doctors could have a “discussion” about what happens to deformed or non-viable children after they are born.
“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam said.
The Washington Post chose to kick off its coverage of the Democrats’ comments by framing the story around the reactions of pro-life conservatives, who said that Northam was advocating for “infanticide.” (RELATED: WaPo: Conservatives Pounce On Northam’s Extreme Abortion Comments)
This reporter wrote yesterday:
“[WaPo’s] Vozzella waited until the 14th paragraph to quote the controversial portion of Northam’s interview, and explained it away by noting that he was talking about third-trimester abortions related to deformed or non-viable children. However, the bill in question would do away with current law that limits third-trimester abortions to situations that threaten the mother’s life.”
The Washington Post struck again Thursday when they ran the headline, “Until this week, Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her daughter on the House floor. Now Republicans are calling her a baby killer.” (OPINION: ‘Gosnell’ Is A Sobering Depiction Of Evil Hidden In Plain Sight)
After conservatives criticized the headline, WaPo stealth edited the headline to say, “Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her baby on the House floor. Now she’s getting death threats.”
“We made changes to the headline and story during the day as part of the standard editing process,” The Washington Post told The Daily Caller.
The new headline suggested that Tran was receiving death threats as a result of nursing her child on the House floor.
Some serious stealth editing going on with this Washington Post story: https://t.co/mr9d3nGWYF pic.twitter.com/fEzwZ68sIA
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 31, 2019
CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, hardly covered the comments on air at all. According to a review of TV-clipping service Grabien, CNN covered Northam’s comments for just two minutes across two programs. MSNBC spent just one minute on his radical position on abortion.
Other Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have dodged questions when asked if they agree with Northam and Tran’s position on abortion. President Donald Trump told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that he thought the comments were “terrible.”
Shannon Brookes also contributed to this report.
This article has been updated to include comment from The Washington Post.