MY mother who lives in Manila frantically asked me during a phone conversation lately about what she called “black propaganda” against Joe Biden relayed to her by my sister-in-law which I think she must have heard from Filipino Trump supporters visiting in Manila.
Mom said it is about Trump claiming repeatedly that Biden supports late-term abortion, even when the baby is already viable to survive. This is false.
FACT: Trump knowingly and maliciously fabricated misrepresentation and lies about Biden’s stand on abortion to elicit disgust and hate. He crafted that messaging with the goal to deceive and misinform. That is discussed below based on the reporting by Newsweek.
FACT: Biden has reiterated his position on Roe V. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide which gives women the constitutional right to make a choice on her body’s reproductive system.
“I’m very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion… But you still — I just believe in choice,” Biden said, pursuant to the law of the land. “I accept church rule personally, but not in public life,” he continued, alluding to his obligation as public officials to follow the laws according to the Constitution’s separation of Church and State. A devout practicing Catholic, Biden’s sentiments about abortion have evolved, but his decisions as a public servant always followed the law.
FACT: Biden is pro-choice and pro-life. Supporting abortion rights is not the same as mandating abortions. Biden honors and protects life from womb to tomb, and the Affordable Care Act of the Obama-Biden administration dramatically lowered abortion rates through women’s access to health care and information, contraceptives, so that she can choose when she is responsibly ready to conceive a child, thereby, not having to resort to abortion. This is backed by the studies conducted by Guttmacher Institute.
FACT: The same results are revealed in studies done globally. The Kaiser Family Foundation published several studies on this on July 24, 2020. “Global rates of unintended pregnancies have fallen from 79 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in 1990 to 64 in 2019, thanks in part to a concerted effort to increase access to contraceptives, according to new data published by health research organization the Guttmacher Institute and the U.N. Human Reproduction Programme (HRP).”
FACT: “No evidence’ that legal restrictions prevent women seeking abortions. In fact, according to research published on Wednesday in the Lancet Global Health journal, the abortion rate increased by an average of 12% between 1990 and 2019 in 107 nations with restrictive laws. But in countries where the procedure is broadly legal, the abortion rate dropped by eight percent.”
My husband and I are practicing Catholics. My husband is a doctor who took the Hippocratic oath to protect and save lives and “do no harm.” While we personally choose not to have an abortion, if someone asks for our advice, we will share how we feel about it and other options she may consider, BUT we do not encroach on other people’s choices and other women’s reproductive rights, trusting they also uphold life and will benefit much from compassionate care and help during moments of desperation.
Ask yourself: Trump used to be pro-choice. He just aligned himself with the Republicans and out of political expediency, called himself “pro-life”. What has Trump done to protect the life of the American people?
Did Trump choose life when he downplayed the threat of the virus and continue to discredit and deny science, facts, and health officials that has resulted in the deaths of more than 221,000 Americans and the infections of more than 8.28 million and counting?
Did Trump choose life when he took the battle to abolish the Affordable Care Act all the way to the Supreme Court during the pandemic without a real concrete well thought of a pro-people plan that may immediately be implemented to save the lives of the American people? Include the sick, the elderly, or the disabled? An executive order by Trump would not deliver what the Obama-Biden health care has done to help the American people.
Did Trump choose life when he tried to take away safety nets like food stamps, unemployment insurance from those who have lost their jobs? Social security and Medicare for the sick, the elderly and the disabled?
Did Trump choose life when he would give corporate hand-outs to the billionaires and help them get insanely richer and richer as the poor ordinary hardworking Americans are denied a living wage, affordable education, and good health care that will help them get out of poverty?
Did Trump choose life when he separated babies and young children from their parents who were desperate to save their children from hunger and violence in their country when they tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum in the United States. Up to now, after almost four years, the Trump administration still cannot locate the parents of some 545 babies and children — all living without their mothers and fathers for almost four years. Is this humane? Is this pro-life?
Did Trump choose life when he obsessively killed all of President Barack Obama’s regulations meant to help save nature and the environment from man’s greedy short-sighted abuse so we can leave behind a healthy planet for our children, grandchildren and future generations?
Trump’s action is not what true pro-life is. True pro-life is not just anti-abortion. It is honoring and nurturing life from womb to tomb, especially helping those who are most vulnerable and the poor.
Pro-life is also helping every woman not to choose abortion by empowering her from the beginning with knowledge about her reproductive system, how to avoid unwanted pregnancy, how to be healthy and well to take care of her baby not just inside the womb but until the baby is an adult, raised with good health care, education, good moral foundation to be good people and productive members of society.
Pro-life is helping a woman in despair with compassion in realizing that she has options other than abortion, because there are people who will help her through instead of crucifying her. Abortion restrictions did not stop women in despair from self-aborting. Only true love, empathy, compassion and support help and heal.
So, let’s do ourselves a favor and let us fulfill our obligation of due diligence in finding out the truth about issues so we can make informed and conscientious decisions when we cast our sacred vote. Doing otherwise is a mark of blind idolatry to Trump and complicity to his malicious disinformation to perpetuate his corruption and abuse of power.
Trump tweeted at 4:45 a.m. on Oct 6, 2020: “Biden and Democrats just clarified the fact that they are fully in favor of (very) LATE TERM ABORTION, right up until the time of birth, and beyond – which would be execution. Biden even endorsed the Governor of Virginia, who stated this clearly for all to hear. GET OUT & VOTE!
FACT: Newsweek followed how Trump crafted these false claims and disinformation about Biden’s position on abortion:
The Supreme Court’s rulings in Roe and in Planned Parenthood v. Casey say that states may ban abortion after the fetus reaches viability, which typically occurs near the end of the second trimester, according to the fact-checking service Logically. The cases mandate that states with such bans must allow an exception if it’s necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother—which some conservatives interpret as the law allowing for late-term abortions.
When the Washington Post asked whether Biden supported restrictions, a campaign representative said that Biden believes in the terms laid out by Roe and Casey.
One such state is Virginia, where current law says that third-trimester abortions are permitted only if the risk to the mother’s life is “substantial and irremediable.” Last year, state Democrats proposed legislation that would allow for late-term abortions if the mother’s physical or mental safety were at risk.
Although the bill ultimately stalled in a committee, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, defended it during an interview with radio station WTOP. Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, explained what could happen in the case of a third trimester abortion if the bill was passed.
Northam’s comments sparked immediate outrage among prominent Republican figures, accusing the governor of favoring infanticide. Even Trump weighed in, falsely claiming in his 2019 State of the Union address that Northam had “stated he would execute a baby after birth.”
The president was likely referring to Northam’s comments in his tweet Wednesday, moving to equate Biden with the governor. While Biden previously endorsed Northam during his 2017 campaign for governor, Biden was among those calling for his resignation last year after a racist photo from Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook resurfaced.
Appearing at a September 25 campaign rally in Newport News, Virginia, Trump doubled down on his criticism of Northam, telling the crowd they have a “crazy governor” who is “so far left” and constantly attacks the right to life.
“As you know, sleepy Joe Biden endorsed your governor, so that means he endorsed the policy of your governor,” Trump said.
According to the New York Times, “The statistics hardly justify Trump’s description of babies being ripped from the womb — a horror story he has repeated dozens of times. About 1 percent of abortions happen after the point of viability, so the cases at issue in this debate would be relatively rare.”
Yet, we are inundated with disgusting memes and videos telling these lies versus Biden and his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, with the help of Russia’s interference in our election to discredit opponents and help Trump win again, as revealed by Trump’s own appointee FBI director Christopher Wray, under oath in a congressional hearing.
Trump is just nominally, by name, pro-life to get your vote, but not in his attitude and action as president and as a human being.
For the past four years, Trump has spread misinformation. And now, being behind Biden in the polls, he is doubling down on the falsehoods to get re-elected.
Vote Biden-Harris to save the decency, unity, democracy and soul of America and the American people.
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(The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.)
Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
