Exposing the Junk Science of the Anti-Choice Movement (and how well it pays!)
Exposing the Junk Science of the Anti-Choice Movement
Abortion is linked to breast cancer.
Abortion leads to mental illness and drug abuse.
Women are frequently admitted to hospitals with abortion-related complications.
One thing the above statements have in common? They’re myths, and abortion-rights activists have worked hard to debunk them. Most recently, as part of an investigative project, RH Reality Check found 14 doctors, scientists and academics who have aided in pushing “false information designed to mislead the public, lawmakers and the courts about abortion.” In their “False Witnesses” exposé, they name these participants, exploring each one’s role in the anti-choice movement.
A lot of the people fingered by RH Reality Check have been long-time anti-choice activists or ultra-conservative evangelicals who spread inaccuracies about abortion in court testimony. Endocrinologist Joel L. Brind and Dr. Angela E. Lanfranchi, for example, have testified on the supposed link between abortion and breast cancer. Dr. Monique Vera Chireau, psychotherapist Vincent M. Rue and research professor Priscilla K. Coleman have testified on a link between abortion and mental illness.
One of the doctors investigated by RH Reality Check, Dr. James C. Anderson, is an emergency room physician in Richmond, Virginia, who has testified around the country that it is medically necessary for abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. He claims this protects patients and is the best medical practice. In February 2013, while testifying in a North Dakota TRAP law case, he said:
If a physician cannot obtain privileges for the specific requested procedures at his or her local hospital, then in my expert opinion, the physician is not qualified to do the surgical procedures that have life-changing or life-threatening impact.
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Anderson, like many of the “false witnesses,” has been compensated generously for his courtroom appearances—all on the taxpayer’s dime, according to RH Reality Check. In just the past two years, he has been paid $24,106 by the Texas Office of the Attorney General, $17,224 by the Alaska Department of Law and $16,350 by the Alabama Office of the Attorney General, all expert witness fees.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/01/13/exposing-the-junk-science-of-the-anti-choice-movement/
