Comments on: What the NY Times Really Said About Roe v. Wade

By: A.R. Randolph

A.R. Randolph — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:04:54 +0000

Mr. Schmitz neglects to mention that in my published version of my 2005 speech, I wrote: “The next day [after the Roe decision], a front page article in the New York Times stated that the Supreme Court’s decision marked “the historic resolution of” this “fiercely controversial issue.” 29 Harvard J. of Law and Public Policy at p. 1045. This statement was entirely accurate.

By: Peter S

Peter S — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:15:38 +0000

You make a very important point here Matthew. When building an argument, it is , for both ethical and prudential reasons, always important to try to be as accurate as possible.

The NYT’s actual headline was just as misleading as the purported one, although it requires a little more effort to explain why that is so.

Darel, good point about the NBC reporting. Not only do most people not understand Roe (& it’s companion case Doe), but polls also show that most or a significant plurality of people favor greater restrictions on abortion than those allowed by current constitutional law – the failure of many news reports to include that is an example of deception by omission.

By: Darel

Darel — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:56:30 +0000

In related news, NBC is crowing this morning about how "seven in 10 respondents oppose Roe v. Wade being overturned, which is the highest percentage on this question since 1989." Yet when one looks at the poll results, one finds that only 39% of persons questioned actually "approve" of Roe v. Wade -- 41% admitted they don't know enough about the case to have an opinion until prompted by pollsters.