NBC journo misrepresents pro-life bill to bash GOP as fringe extremists, gets major facts completely wrong

An apparent MSNBC propagandist is under fire for misportraying the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and bashing a GOP resolution that condemns violence against pro-life pregnancy centers.

As previously reported, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act simply requires healthcare providers to offer medical care to a baby who survives a failed abortion. That’s it. Yet to hear ostensible MSNBC reporter Ali Vitali tell it, the bill is about something else altogether.

“They’re calling this a born-alive bill, but really what they’re talking about is fetuses who are viable after a period of gestation, so really 21-24 weeks and after that,” she said on the air during an MSNBC segment Wednesday.

“And at the center of this conversation is the fact that that’s around 1 percent of abortions in this country. And really abortions that happen at that point are because of fetal abnormalities or the life of the mother is in danger. And so by starting here in this space, it’s really looking for, in many ways, almost a way of talking to a problem that exists in such a small and rare way in this country,” she added.

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But the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act has nothing to do with gestation.

“The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act does nothing to bar abortions after any period of gestation … be it after 21, 24, or even 39 weeks in the womb. The numbers cited by Vitali appear to have been picked out of a hat, not out of the text of the legislation,” author Isaac Schorr notes in an opinion piece published Friday.

Indeed, below is the text of the bill. Notice how it says nothing about gestation or halting an abortion:

“Any health care practitioner present at the time the child is born alive shall (A) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age; and (B) following the exercise of skill, care, and diligence required under subparagraph (A), ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.”

During the same Wednesday segment, Vitali also bashed an otherwise innocuous resolution condemning all the left-wing extremist violence that’s been perpetrated against pro-life pregnancy centers across the country.

Republicans are “seeking to protect crisis pregnancy centers, which are notorious for disinformation about abortion and pregnancy,” she said.

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Critics say it sounded as if Vitali was excusing the slew of violence that’s been perpetrated against pro-life pregnancy centers.

The resolution primarily “condemns recent attacks of vandalism, violence, and destruction against pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.”

It also “recognizes the sanctity of life and the important role pro-life facilities, groups, and churches play in supporting pregnant women, infants and families,” and it “calls upon the Biden administration to use all appropriate law enforcement authorities to uphold public safety and to protect the rights of pro-life facilities, groups and churches.”

Nearly every Democrat in the House voted against the resolution on Wednesday because it didn’t also condemn alleged acts of violence against pro-abortion facilities.

Led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Democrats also introduced their own resolution that they claimed would have condemned all types of political violence.

“Republicans are using their new House majority to continue pushing their dangerous anti-abortion agenda and mislead the public about what’s at stake in the struggle for reproductive freedom. Let’s be clear: these so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ are deceptive and illegitimate institutions that coerce vulnerable people and mislead them about the full range of reproductive healthcare options. Our resolution makes plain that we condemn all political violence,” Pressley said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, Republicans are ignoring the real-life, dangerous consequences of their anti-abortion rhetoric. We stand in solidarity with all of the healthcare providers who should be able to do their job without fear of violence, intimidation, or harassment – a devastating reality in my district and across the nation as right wing rhetoric incites violence against those who provide essential health care. I’m grateful to my colleagues on the Pro-Choice Caucus for their partnership and I won’t stop fighting to affirm abortion care as the human right that it is,” she added.

Notice how, just like Vitali, she also smeared pro-life pregnancy centers. It raises the question, did she write Vitali’s talking points, or did Vitali write her talking points?

MSNBC has long been accused of being nothing more than the Praetorian Guard of the Democrat Party as per its demonstrable bias. Vitali’s Wednesday rant doesn’t help.

Vivek Saxena

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