On Thursday’s Chris Jansing Reports, the eponymous MSNBC host wondered if pro-life laws will have “a chilling effect on rape victims” and her guests readily informed her that they will.
Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali was talking about the effect of Roe v. Wade’s demise could have on the midterms when she added, “I would also say when it comes to this really horrifying story out of Ohio, it does strike me that the knee-jerk reaction when you hear this kind of terror is to doubt the girl at the center of it. We have seen this time and again with women and in this case, someone who is not even of woman age yet being doubted in the press.”
Jansing then turned to Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal and suggested the case could hurt Republicans, “Ten years old. Marty, your reporting suggests the Republicans could have seen this coming. We were bound to see cases like. In 2021 alone, Ohio saw over 6,000 cases for sexual abuse cases with the victims under 18, that’s according to the Ohio Network of Advocacy Centers. From what you’re seeing, could this be, potentially, political quicksand for local and state Republicans as well?”
Schladen declared it was possible and that despite all his questioning on the issue, “I’m not getting any answers.” No word on the overwhelming majority of abortions that are sought by adults for nothing more than convenience.
Later, Jansing had another question for Schladen, “you talked to the head of a local pro-abortion rights group and she asks ‘what signal does that give to rape survivors across the state and the country?’ that these, this young girl was not believed. Is she concerned this will have a chilling effect on rape victims? Even parents of young girls who are thinking of reporting a crime?”
They doubted their existence because there were also basic journalistic problems that even the Washington Post was noting, mainly that the story was based on one source, Caitlin Bernard, who suddenly went silent whenever other media outlets called to verify the story. As for the girl's parents:
WATCH: The mother of the Ohio 10/y rape victim tells Telemundo's @MariaVargasPion that the child "is fine", and "everything they say about (Gerson Flores) is a lie." pic.twitter.com/Vtpyn404g7
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 14, 2022
Speaking of Bernard, Schladen replied with some sloppy reporting of his own, “Very definitely. I think it speaks to a certain hostility and I think that hostility has actually even increased. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news today, but the attorney general of Indiana is talking about going after the medical license of the doctor there, Caitlin Bernard, who initially reported this. I think the fear is that this is going to have a chilling effect up and down the line.”
Despite blabbing about the crime to the Indianapolis Star, Bernard is not being investigated for reporting a rape of a 10-year-old. In fact, the opposite is true.
Who is really harming sexual abuse victims? Pro-lifers or journalists who do not adequately confirm facts when dealing with highly charged political issues like abortion?
This segment was sponsored by Ancestry.
Here is a transcript for the July 14 show:
MSNBC Chris Jansing Reports
7/14/2022
1:35 PM ET
CHRIS JANSING: So Ali, do Democrats see this as a lifeline, essentially, ahead of the midterms? Especially when you can look at extreme cases like these?
ALI VITALI: Yeah, I mean, look, Democrats have always, and as long as I have been on the campaign trail, reproductive rights have been, sort of, a guardrail in Democratic politics, but an untested one, Chris, because Democrats for a long time have talked about the potential for Republicans and conservatives to overturn Roe, but most voters never had to grapple with the idea that this could actually happen.
Women for the last 49 years have never had to thought, think about whether or not they had a fundamental right to access abortion care. So, this is really an untested moment in politics as abortion has always been a galvanizing issue for voters, but now what we’re seeing in polling, is the idea that this is rising in the ranks for voters as they consider their top issues going into the midterms, which is exactly what Democrats want because they see it as a moment to try to energize an electorate that frankly Democrats badly needed to energize.
I would also say when it comes to this really horrifying story out of Ohio, it does strike me that the knee-jerk reaction when you hear this kind of terror is to doubt the girl at the center of it. We have seen this time and again with women and in this case, someone who is not even of woman age yet being doubted in the press.
JANSING: Ten years old. Marty, your reporting suggests the Republicans could have seen this coming. We were bound to see cases like. In 2021 alone, Ohio saw over 6,000 cases for sexual abuse cases with the victims under 18, that’s according to the Ohio Network of Advocacy Centers. From what you’re seeing, could this be, potentially, political quicksand for local and state Republicans as well?
MARTY SCHLADEN: I think very possibly. I think that the thing our state’s leaders don't want to talk about what age should a woman or a girl be required to have her rapist’s baby? That’s a question I’ve asked several times and I’m not getting any answers to.
…
JANSING: And Marty beyond abortion rights there’s the secondary issue and actually Ali touched on it in her last answer because you talked to the head of a local pro-abortion rights group and she asks “what signal does that give to rape survivors across the state and the country?” that these, this young girl was not believed. Is she concerned this will have a chilling effect on rape victims? Even parents of young girls who are thinking of reporting a crime?
SCHLADEN: Very definitely. I think it speaks to a certain hostility and I think that hostility has actually even increased. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news today, but the attorney general of Indiana is talking about going after the medical license of the doctor there, Caitlin Bernard, who initially reported this. I think the fear is that this is going to have a chilling effect up and down the line.
