We wish to draw your attention to the bias implicit in the headline and article about Ma’May Faucher’s “pro-life” presentation, which appeared on the front page of your newspaper on May 4, 2011.
First, by giving this event such prominence, the Daily Bruin suggested that the presentation was important and newsworthy, when in reality it was merely a one-sided personal perspective about abortion by a purported ultrasound technician who has never conducted any research on the subject.
Second, by using the headline, “Speaker advocates abortion education,” the Daily Bruin gave the erroneous impression that Faucher was calling for balanced public education on abortion, which would include facts about its safety, legality and prevention through use of effective contraception. Yet this was clearly not the case. Indeed, rather than using standard medical terminology during her presentation, Faucher always referred to the fetus as a “baby” and to abortions as the “killing of unborn children.”
Lastly, in its subheadline, the Daily Bruin wrote that Faucher “… uses videos, personal experiences to make women more aware of consequences.” This again is extremely misleading.
Studies conducted by respected academic institutions have found that abortions, when performed by trained medical personnel in sanitary conditions, have virtually no negative short-term or long-term physical or mental health consequences for women.
Moreover, abortions that occur prior to 21 weeks of gestation (98% of all abortions performed in the US) are safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.
Signed by the following:
Paula Tavrow
_Director, Bixby Program in Population and reproductive health at the UCLA School of Public Health _
Susie Baldwin
Medical director, California Family Health Council
Angela Y. Chen
Assistant professor, obstetrics and gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Jessica D. Gipson
Assistant professor at the community health sciences department, UCLA School of Public Health
Alanna Hirz
Doctoral candidate at the community health sciences department at the UCLA School of Public Health
Mellissa Withers
Lecturer and visiting scholar, UCLA