Every Conservative Who Called Story of 10-Year-Old Who Got Abortion a Lie
An Ohio man has now been charged in a case that several prominent Republicans had claimed did not exist.
www.newsweek.com
Every Conservative Who Called Story of 10-Year-Old Who Got Abortion a Lie
10-year-old girl who traveled to Indiana to get an abortion—after prominent Republicans and conservatives cast doubt on whether the case even existed.
Ohio authorities have charged 27-year-old Guatemalan immigrant with rape of a minor under 13 years old in a case involving a 10-year-old victim that has made national headlines since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Gerson Fuentes was arraigned in a Franklin County court on Tuesday, according to county records. He is being held in the Franklin County Correctional Center without bail.
On July 1, The Indianapolis Star quoted Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, as saying that an abortion had been provided for the girl because she was "six weeks and three days pregnant" and couldn't get the procedure in Ohio under a newly imposed state ban on abortions at the first detectable "fetal heartbeat."
The case drew international attention after it was highlighted by President Joe Biden last week during the signing of an executive order aimed about protecting access to abortion as Republican-led states, including Ohio, have enacted near-total bans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a bombshell ruling in June.
Some prominent Republicans, including Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, suggested the case was fabricated.
Dinesh D'Souza, a right-wing political commentator who also cast doubt on the case, accused the media of concealing the suspect's identity due to his immigration status.
"Earlier I said I didn't think the 10-year-old rape victim even existed. I said this because I couldn't find out anything about the case or the alleged perpetrator," he tweeted.
"Now we know why! The mainstream media was concealing his identity because he's an illegal alien."
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his spokesman responded to the story by ignoring questions about whether children should be forced to have their rapists’ babies. Then DeWine allies contacted members of the press, asking how sure they were that the case of the pregnant 10-year-old even happened.
The Washington Post, the conservative Daily Caller and other media outlets published stories saying that the case was unverified. The Wall Street Journal Editorial page suggested the story was a “fanciful tale.” The National Review’s Michael Brendan Dougherty referred to the case as “a fictive abortion and a fictive rape.”
Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost went on Fox News Monday to raise further doubts. He said he works closely with law enforcement authorities and he’d gotten “not a whisper” about the case. “What I’m saying to you is there is not a damn scintilla of evidence,” he doubled-down to the Columbus Dispatch next on Tuesday.
Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou on Twitter called the case, “A garbage lie that a simple google search confirms is debunked.”
State Rep. Brian Stewart tweeted the Washington Post story saying he “wouldn’t trust an abortionist to tell me whether the sky is blue.”
Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted, “Another lie. Anyone surprised?”
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