Information Alert: Setting the Record Straight

Victoria Cobb, President
Tuesday, June 2, 2009

One of the responsibilities we at The Family Foundation take very seriously is challenging the misinformation, distortions, or outright lies that are propagated by those opposed to the values you and I share. Often, this is done through the media.

Two examples of this have occurred in just the past few days.

This morning I was interviewed on Richmond’s WRVA radio popular “Morning News with Jimmy Barrett” about the murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller in Kansas. Jimmy gave me the opportunity to rebut the notion being repeated by abortion extremists and some pundits that the murderer of George Tiller is representative of the pro-life movement in America.

I was able to tell listeners that, just as the pro-life movement was gaining headway as we saw with the Gallop poll recently that found a majority of Americans now consider themselves pro-life, I am now having to do interviews like the one today and try to explain to people that this person in no way represents the overwhelming majority of thoughtful, peaceful pro-life Americans.

I have no doubt that some abortion extremists and some in the media will use this incident to paint all Americans who seek to protect human life as morally equivalent to this murderer. That kind of rhetoric will serve no positive purpose, but will give opportunity to extremists to label law-abiding citizens that legally seek to protect unborn human life as dangerous. It advances no cause and brings us no closer to resolution in this debate.

If you would like to listen to this morning’s radio interview, click here to visit our blog.

Over the weekend I had a letter to the editor published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD) that rebutted misinformation in an earlier opinion piece. In that article, Ms. Lindsay Oliver of the “Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project” claims, “Although 15 states use their own funds to cover abortions under many circumstances, Virginia is not one of them.” This statement is absolutely false. Despite legislative efforts from The Family Foundation in conjunction with hundreds of pro-family citizens, Virginia continues to fund abortion. In fact, Virginia taxpayers fund elective abortions!

I told RTD readers, “The Federal government subsidizes abortions only when a Medicaid-eligible woman’s life is at risk or in the cases of rape or incest. In Virginia, we fund abortions beyond the Federal requirements. Incredibly from 2006-2007, Virginia tax dollars have funded 301 elective abortions (149 in fiscal-year 2007, and 152 in fiscal 2006).”

I added, “Public interest is in favor of ending this funding. The Family Foundation and the Virginia Catholic Conference co-sponsored a Mason Dixon poll in December 2008, and when asked if they supported Virginia’s policy of using state money to pay for abortions falling outside the categories of rape, incest, and endangering the life of the mother, 46 percent of respondents were opposed to the funding with only 39 percent in support. Furthermore, a recent Harris poll found that 63 percent of Americans oppose the taxpayer funding of abortion. Combine this with the widely publicized recent Gallup poll showing that 53 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal only in certain circumstances, and it’s clear the tide against abortion on demand is growing.”

The Family Foundation is honored to serve as a voice for traditional values in the public square. Correcting the lies and distortions of the left is a full time job, but one that we are more than willing to do!