Dr. O’Reilly, OB-GYN Dr. O’Reilly, OB-GYN
October 18, 2006
Bill O'Reilly has suddenly become a medical expert:
South Dakota, as you know, has voted to outlaw abortions unless the mother's life is in danger, which is never the case, because you can always have a C-section and do those kinds of things.
MediaMatters has rebutted his ridiculous claim:
In fact, there are several potential pregnancy complications that can threaten the life of a pregnant woman. For instance, an ectopic pregnancy, which the Mayo Clinic estimates occurs in "[a]bout one in every 40 to 100 pregnancies," is a condition in which the zygote, a fertilized egg, attaches itself outside of the uterus and "may destroy important maternal structures" with the potential to cause "life-threatening blood loss." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ectopic pregnancies "are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first trimester." Additionally, other potential pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, which can cause HELLP syndrome and eclampsia, can also threaten the life of a pregnant woman.
But why believe the so-called experts, doctors, or even the folks in the lab coats at the CDC when you can just make it up? In the same segment Bill interpreted a poll for us:
Forty-five percent of Americans, according to a new CNN poll -- 45 percent say all abortions should be outlawed unless the mother's going to die -- or catastrophic health consequences, which again, is never the case -- never. Fifty-one percent say, "No, abortion should stay the way it is. Roe v. Wade should stand." There's a plus or minus of 4.5 percent in the poll, so that's about even, all right. So, that's a lot of folks that say no to abortion in the U.S.A. -- a lot. You very rarely hear their point of view on -- in the media because the media's almost 100 percent pro-choice.
Even if you ignore the "plus" part of "plus or minus of 4.5 percent" as he did, you still don't even get a majority who think that all abortions should be outlawed. Only in O'Reilly's mind does 45 equal 51.
Link: MediaMatters