Rachel Maddow of MSNBC Caught Lying About Ohio Pro-Life Bill

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 10, 2013   |   10:46AM   |   Columbus, OH

Today, Ohio Right to Life distributed copies to every Ohio media outlet of the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s report proving that national pundit Rachel Maddow recently made false and misleading statements regarding Ohio’s new pro-life laws. The newspaper referred to her claims as “ridiculous.” (Read the Plain Dealer Report.)

Maddow falsely claimed the Ohio budget includes requirement for transvaginal ultrasound. From the report:

Viewers of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” recently got a preview of the heated rhetoric that will typify this debate over the next 16 months as Kasich seeks a second term. Maddow, the cable news program’s liberal host, noted on her June 28 broadcast the anti-abortion measures the GOP-controlled General Assembly had added to the budget, which Kasich had yet to sign.

In interpreting some of the budget’s more-ambiguous abortion language, Maddow contended that the new regulations included a “mandatory vaginal probe at the insistence of the state.”

Maddow was referring to a new requirement that women seeking abortions first receive ultrasounds to determine whether a fetal heartbeat is present. Her provocative words quickly went viral and sent PolitiFact Ohio in search of a full copy of the massive state budget.

Did it go as far as she claimed? Did it mandate a transvaginal ultrasound, as Maddow claimed, or did it allow for an external transabdominal procedure?

In other words, not only are external methods such as transabdominal ultrasounds allowed under the new law; they are required. That sinks Maddow’s claim of a “mandatory vaginal probe.”

That puts Maddow’s “vaginal probe” claim about as far as can be from the truth, into the realm of the ridiculous. Or, in Truth-O-Meter terms: Pants on Fire!

We reached out to MSNBC and asked representatives if Maddow had anything more to say, but we did not hear back from them.

“We thank the Plain Dealer for reporting the truth instead of falling in line with the majority of news outlets that accepted the abortion advocates’ false talking points as truth,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.

“Credibility matters and yet again abortion advocates are caught spinning a web of lies to distract Ohioans from the truth. Planned Parenthood continues to lose market share as more and more women choose life by visiting pregnancy centers and community health centers,” said Gonidakis.

The Plain Dealer report comes on the heels of Ohio organizations criticizing pro-choice Democrat State Representatives for unanimously voting for pro-life legislation and then disparaging Governor Kasich for signing the exact same legislation into law. (Read the letter to Democrat State Representatives).

“Rachel Maddow’s blatantly false and tired talking points are early examples of what to expect from the abortion industry as we head into the election season next year,” said Ohio Right to Life Communications Director, Emmalee Kalmbach.

“Maddow and the abortion industry are on the wrong side of Ohioans. We are a pro-life state that elected pro-life legislators. Even the most recent Gallup Poll demonstrates that a majority of Americans, including a majority of women, want to see all or almost all abortions made illegal. The recent pro-life budget represents the will of the people and the pro-abortion media is doing everything they can to sabotage Ohio’s life-saving laws,” said Kalmbach.

Ohio Right to Life and its statewide membership thanks pro-life Governor John Kasich for standing up against the lies of Planned Parenthood, the media and their allies.