CLAIM: ABC moderator Linsey Davis intervened in the debate to claim that no state allows abortion after birth.
VERDICT: LACKS CONTEXT. Many Democratic states allow abortion until birth, and just “palliative” care in some cases.
ABC News’ Linsey Davis decided to side openly with Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential debate on Tuesday night, repeating the mistake CNN’s Candy Crowley made in 2012 when she intervened (incorrectly) in a debate between Republican challenger Mitt Romney and incumbent President Barack Obama over Benghazi.
In this case, Davis responded to Trump’s claim that there are states where babies are allowed to die after they are born after failed abortions. “There is no state where it is legal in this country to kill a child after it is born,” she said.
It is illegal everywhere to kill a child, or to decide to have an abortion after a healthy birth, but it is not illegal in some states to allow a baby to die after a delivery induced for medical reasons.
As one fact check admitted, even in correcting Gov. Ron Desantis (R-FL) over claims similar to the ones Trump made during the debate: “Sometimes, labor is induced, followed by palliative care, for babies with very short life-expectancies. Some families choose this option when faced with life-threatening diagnoses that often limit their babies’ post-birth survival to just minutes or days after delivery, experts said.”
Trump was referring specifically to Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who spoke in defense of a bill that would have allowed a woman to decide to abort a baby even after the process of birth had begun.
Northam said: “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
Northam later said he had no regrets about his comments, though he admitted that could have spoken more precisely.
So while it is true that no state allows abortion after birth, many Democrat-run states allow abortion up to birth, which may include allowing a baby with severe problems to die after birth is induced for medical reasons.
Crucially, Democrats have often opposed legislation by Republicans to require attempts to save babies who survive botched abortions. Harris, as a Senator, voted in opposition to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), removed a requirement that hospitals report failed abortions.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.