Will a Kentucky Bill Mandate That Women Confirm Whether They’re Pregnant Every Month?
A protest amendment to HB 148 appearing to require notarized monthly statements from fertile women was mistaken for sincere legislation by some readers.
abortion
Are New Abortion Laws in Alabama and Ohio Defined as ‘Forced Pregnancy’ under UN Genocide Conventions?
On May 17 2019, a Facebook user shared one of several social media claims that controversial new near-total abortion bans in Alabama, Ohio, and Georgia constituted “forced pregnancy” under United Nations (UN) regulations governing the definition and handling of genocide and genocidal acts. The post (archived here) included a screenshot from the United Nations Office …
Does a Proposed Ohio Bill Make the Pill and IUDs Illegal?
In May 2019, a number of posts about “heartbeat bills” in various American states circulated on social media. For example, a rumor about Georgia (archived here) subsequently appeared that proposed legislation would purportedly ban birth control pills and IUDs. One popular Facebook post about a provision of yet another bill, this time in Ohio, featured a …
Does a Proposed Ohio Bill Make the Pill and IUDs Illegal? Read More »
Did Nancy Pelosi Call ‘Late-Term Abortion’ Bans ‘Really Quite a Sad Thing?’
On April 14 2019, a Facebook user shared a text-based status update (archived here), claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had described “late-term abortion” bans as “really quite a sad thing”: Against a purple gradient background, white text read: Nancy Pelosi just called Trump’s request to ban late-term abortion “Really quite a sad thing.” No …
Did Nancy Pelosi Call ‘Late-Term Abortion’ Bans ‘Really Quite a Sad Thing?’ Read More »
Did Free Birth Control in Colorado Drop Unplanned Pregnancies by 40 Percent?
On March 31 2019, a Facebook user shared a meme (archived here) about the purported effects of “free birth control” in the state of Colorado: Across an image of mountain scenery, the meme (watermarked by The Other 98%) read: COLORADO HAS OFFERED FREE BIRTH CONTROL FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND HAS SEEN: * UNINTENDED …
Did Free Birth Control in Colorado Drop Unplanned Pregnancies by 40 Percent? Read More »
Does ‘Strange Planet’ Creator Nathan W. Pyle Oppose Abortion?
In March 2019, a webcomic known as “Strange Planet” began dominating Facebook’s feed (as well as Instagram and Twitter), and in April 2019, rumors began circulating about creator Nathan W. Pyle’s purported anti-abortion position: Posts about the rumor quickly spread on Facebook, where some users referenced the “your fave is problematic” meme and expressed dismay …
Does ‘Strange Planet’ Creator Nathan W. Pyle Oppose Abortion? Read More »
Guardian Angel Crying at the Cradle of an Aborted Fetus?
A February 28 2019 Facebook post (archived here) shared the image reproduced above with the following text: I shared this picture a few minutes ago, then about 5 minutes after I shared it, the post was removed from my page and also from the page of who I shared it. The statue represents a guardian …
Guardian Angel Crying at the Cradle of an Aborted Fetus? Read More »
‘What If the Government Funded Adoptions Instead of Abortions?’
During ongoing national debate about a new abortion law in New York in February 2019, a Facebook user shared a meme with a photograph of an infant atop an American flag, bearing the following caption: WHAT IF THE GOVERNMENT FUNDED ADOPTIONS INSTEAD OF ABORTIONS? In the midst of this debate, this uncited meme proved popular and …
‘What If the Government Funded Adoptions Instead of Abortions?’ Read More »
American Sign Language for the Word ‘Abortion’?
Ongoing debate about a January 22 2019 change to abortion law in New York piqued interest in the topic across social media, reviving an old rumor that a long-circulating GIF sbows the American Sign Language translation of the word “abortion.” On February 7 2019, the Facebook page “For America” shared the clip as a video. Various …
Shocking Video of ‘Abortion Doctor’ Saying He ‘Loves Killing Babies’?
On February 7 2019, Facebook user Marcus Rogers shared a video post captioned: “SHOCKING VIDEO of Abortion Doctor GROWLING and Saying He loves Killing Babies. This is just DISGUSTING [emoji] AND YOU KNOW, they don’t want you to see this one! [emoji]: No information about the video, the identity of the individual in the video, …
Shocking Video of ‘Abortion Doctor’ Saying He ‘Loves Killing Babies’? Read More »