Does Snopes Deny Clear-Cut Science?

A popular ‘fact-checking’ site recently posted that abortion was not the leading cause of death in 2018.

“A heartbreaking reminder about the prevalence of abortion, statistics compiled by Worldometers indicate that there were nearly 42 million abortions world-wide in 2018. The independent site collects data from governments and other reputable organizations and then reports the data, along with estimates and projections, based on those numbers” according to LifeSiteNews.

A Snopes article declared these statistics are “problematic” because it take a “political position” on the issue. The article claims that abortion should be viewed as a medical procedure as opposed to an induced death. According to the article, “Heather Boonstra, director of public policy for the reproductive health research organization Guttmacher Institute, told us:

“Abortion is a legal, constitutionally protected medical procedure in the United States. It’s not considered a cause of death by CDC, WHO and other leading authorities, and statistics on induced abortion are excluded in the CDC’s national fetal-death statistics.”

This statement from Boonstra is ‘problematic’. First, does the fact that abortion is legal make it morally acceptable? Slavery was also once legal in the United States. Second, she makes the claim that the CDC does not consider abortion to be a cause of death, yet abortion statistics are listened under “Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report” on the CDC website (see below).

Snopes also makes the argument that because the number of abortions per year has outweighed the number of deaths from diseases and other medical issues for many years, the claim that abortion is the leading cause of death is flawed.  Since it is annual reoccurring news and “not a new dynamic”, world-wide abortions should not be labeled as a cause of death, but rather a simple medical procedure.

Big League Politics reached out to Snopes to ask why they disagree with the universally accepted fact that a heartbeat constitutes life and the absence of a heartbeat equates death.  David Mikkelson of Snopes.com did not respond to inquiries.

Does rejecting the scientific proof that the presence of a heartbeat indicates life, make Snopes anti-science? You decide.

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