What the MSM Got Wrong About the March for Life: Most Everything Important

Five hours before the January 22 March for Life rally even began, Newsweek blogger Krista Gesaman posted a highly misleading piece on the March’s age demographics as well as the route itself.

In a piece entitled, “Who’s missing at the Roe v. Wade anniversary demonstrations? Young women,” Gesaman wrote:

Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing abortion, and droves of women are prepared to face rainy weather to support their positions during the annual Washington, D.C., demonstrations. But there will be one major difference with the demonstration route this year–it’s shorter.

The organizers are getting older, and it’s more difficult for them to walk a long distance,” says Stanley Radzilowski, an officer in the planning unit for the Washington, D.C., police department. A majority of the participants are in their 60s and were the original pioneers either for or against the case, he says.

So this raises the question: where are the young, vibrant women supporting their pro-life or pro-choice positions? Likely, they’re at home.

First, whoever Stanley Radzilowski is, he got his facts way wrong on the March for Life’s route. It was the same this year as it has been for several years:March for Life 2007:

And here’s the 2010 route:

Furthermore, the March rally location was moved in 2008 from 4^th Street to 7^th Street – further away from the Supreme Court Building.

So while it is conceivable some pro-lifers might have taken a shortcut to Constitution Ave. from 4th Street for the 2007 March, they have lost that option. In other words, the facts are opposition of Radzilowski’s contention.

As for the geriatric inclination of pro-lifers attending the March for Life, Gesaman need only to have actually attended it to have seen that the bulk of participants were young people.

Her pro-abortion colleague, Robert McCartney, at Newsweek’s sister publication The Washington Post, actually did the journalistic groundwork of investigating before writing, and came away observing this:

The antiabortion movement feels it’s gaining strength, even if it’s not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous….

I was especially struck by the large number of young people among the tens of thousands at the march. It suggests that the battle over abortion will endure for a long time to come.

“We are the pro-life generation,” said signs carried by the crowd, about half its members appearing to be younger than 30. There were numerous large groups of teenagers, many bused in by Roman Catholic schools and youth groups.

Gesaman’s post was so egregious, commenters on Newsweek’s blog rightfully demanded that it post a retraction.

While it is common for MSM to ignore this largest sustained annual protest in Washington, D.C., Gesaman went beyond the pale to write such outrageously false information about the March for Life as to merit a public declaration of pro-abortion bias and journalistic malfeasance.

For more media malfeasance, take a look at this video:

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