Get The Facts: "Post-Birth Abortion" Simply Does Not Exist
On June 8th, 2024, The Bismarck Tribune reposted an article titled “2 Republican House candidates refer to “post-birth” abortions during debate”. This article was originally published in the North Dakota Monitor on June 7th, 2024.
The article discusses last Thursday’s Republican Primary Debate on local radio station WZFG The Flag, in which U.S. House candidate Julie Fedorchak claimed that some states allow “post-birth abortions” – a statement that is based on misinformation, and has been refuted by fact-checkers multiple times as false.
GOP-endorsed candidate Alex Balazs also commented on post-birth abortions, stating that “there are states that actually are looking at terminating children after they are born”.
Politifact lists over 13,587 fact checks on over 4,640 articles. Every fact check on the topic of “after birth abortions” has been determined to be false.
Other fact check sources such as Snopes and FactCheck.org also uphold that “post-birth abortion” is false.
You can view the candidate’s statements firsthand by visiting the recording on YouTube starting at 1:03:05, where the question is asked: “Does life begin at conception, and what, if any, exceptions do you support?”
According to the original article published by North Dakota Monitor:
Dr. Nisha Verma, a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health in Atlanta, sought to dispel misinformation during a hearing this week to a U.S. Senate committee.
“I just really want to highlight that the situation of doing an abortion at the moment of birth doesn’t happen,” Verma said. “As a doctor who provides full spectrum reproductive health care, including OB care … it is a false hypothetical that is meant to create additional stigma around abortion care. If a patient comes in at 40 weeks, their options are a C-section and a vaginal delivery, and this misinformation is really dangerous to our patients.”
When asked for clarification, Sean Cleary, Fedorchak’s campaign manager, cited former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s comments to a local radio station in 2019 about third-trimester abortions. During the interview, he said, “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.”
Cleary also cited California’s attempts in 2022 to codify abortion up to the moment of birth into state law, which an Associated Press Fact Check said is missing context and added the state law already restricts third-trimester abortions.
Cleary also shared a Fox News article showing Democrats voting against a bill that would have required medical care for babies born alive after an abortion attempt. Democrats said the bill would interfere with families’ medical decisions.
During the debate, moderate candidate Mund pushed back on the comments from Fedorchak and Balazs.
“No one is having after-birth abortions,” said Mund, a Bismarck attorney and former Miss America. “This is just such false information.”
When pushed to answer, Mund said she’s a Catholic and believes life begins at conception. But she said that doesn’t mean she should advocate for laws based on her own religious beliefs. During her campaign, Mund has spoken strongly in favor of abortion rights.
“As a Republican, we are advocating for limited government, but that doesn’t mean in only certain situations,” Mund said. “The government should not be in doctor’s appointments and should not be in bedrooms.”
The Minot Women’s Network condemns the use of the false narrative that abortions happen post-birth, and provides the following statements in response:
- We believe that it is crucial to fact check statements that are made by our political candidates. Multiple reputable fact-checkers have established that “post-birth abortion” does not exist and does not happen.
- We believe that all reproductive care decisions should be left up to an individual and their medical provider.
- We believe that the right to bodily autonomy is a fundamental human right, and the government should not be allowed to restrict access to that right.
- We believe that religion has no place as the basis for legislative actions, laws, or policy.
