Two big abortion votes recently took place, but the feminist media are only celebrating one of them – the one that backed abortion.
On August 9, Argentina’s Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed elective abortions up to 14 weeks. The vote came after another significant vote on abortion: Ireland’s citizens decided May 25 to repeal a ban on elective abortion, paving the way for abortion up to 12 weeks. Both votes were on abortion in different countries – but feminist news sites and blogs, from Bustle to Jezebel, treated them as opposites.
The main difference? One country voted for abortion, the other voted against it.
Following the Argentinian vote, writer Monica Hunter-Hart lamented the “painful loss for the country’s reproductive rights movement” in a August 9 piece for Bustle. But, she stressed, the “blow doesn’t mark the end of the fight for abortion rights” with “Abortion rights activists” who “are already preparing their next steps.”
Hunter-Hart’s story was the only story Bustle published regarding Argentina’s vote. But something different happened with Ireland. After Irish citizens voted for abortion, Bustle published half a dozen stories in celebration. Some of the headlines read:
- “Photos Of Ireland’s Abortion Referendum Celebrations Show Just How Monumental This Result Is”
- “‘Repealed The 8th’ Tweets Hail Ireland’s Abortion Vote As A Huge Win For Women’s Rights”
- “Why Ireland’s ‘Home To Vote Yes’ Movement For The Abortion Referendum Was So Symbolic”
Bustle wasn’t alone in its twisted coverage. On August 9, Maria Puertas wrote for Teen Vogue that Argentina’s vote followed an “emotional June 14th victory in the lower house.” But, she warned, the “outcome was uncertain” even then, because there were “many Senators representing the anti-choice President Mauricio Macri’s party.”
After Ireland’s vote, Teen Vogue instead celebrated that “Ireland Has Voted to End Its Restrictive Abortion Ban.” Weekend editor De Elizabeth urged that the “vote is the first important step in a momentous change for Ireland.”
Like the others, Jezebel senior writer Frida Garza also bemoaned the events in Argentina – but still saw hope.
“Restrictions to abortion access are nothing new in Latin America, but the abortion bill’s defeat is bittersweet because public opinion on the topic of reproductive rights seemed to be changing,” she wrote. One of the obstacles she cited – from “abortion rights activists” – was that the country was “overwhelmingly Catholic” and the “home of Pope Francis.”
But, when it came to Ireland, Jezebel writer Whitney Kimball gushed “Hey, check out this happy crowd, with not a sour puss amongst them!” about a photo of a crowd cheering for the vote results for abortion.
These sites weren’t alone in their discrepancy of coverage. The broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, NBC – didn’t even cover the Argentinian vote. But, likewise, they rejoiced over Ireland.
While feminist magazines and sites claim to champion all women, they’re pushing aside pro-life women – not just in America, but abroad. And instead of attempting to understand women’s Catholic faith and culture, many in the media are attacking it.
Americans deserve better from the media – not only to voice women, but also to voice all those who support the dignity of every human person, including the unborn.