Beyond Roe: A case too horrible to be true — except that it was

 

Chronicling the next chapter in America's battle over abortion rights. By Sahar Fatima, Globe Staff A case too horrible to be true — except that it was  Last week, my colleague Stephanie Ebbert wrote in this newsletter about a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion after being raped, since her home state no longer allows abortion exceptions for rape and incest. The disturbing example of fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe v. Wade was first brought to light by Indianapolis physician Dr. Caitlin Bernard in an interview with the Indianapolis Star. The case quickly prompted a backlash from conservatives who claimed there was no record of such a victim and that the details had not been verified. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a withering takedown of President Biden for repeating the story when he signed an executive order on abortion, referring to it as a “fanciful tale.” Turns out, the story was all too real.  A day later on Wednesday, the Columbus Dispatch reported that 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes was arrested and confessed to raping the girl. The story said police learned about the pregnancy from Franklin County Children Services, to whom the child’s mother had reported the abuse on June 22. Confirmation that the story was true made for an awkward situation for those who had publicly raised doubts about it, notably Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Yost said Monday on Fox News that he had heard “not a whisper” of evidence that such a case existed and said it was likely a “fabrication.” After Fuentes was arrested, Yost said he was grateful police got “a rapist off the street.” Meanwhile, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan quietly deleted a tweet in which he referred to the 10-year-old story as “another lie.” Jordan is infamously accused of ignoring allegations that wrestlers were sexually abused by Richard Strauss, a former doctor in Ohio State University’s athletics department, when Jordan was assistant coach there, which Jordan denies. The Wall Street Journal added a note to its original editorial and published another one “correcting the record” while defending the editorial board’s initial misgivings. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, who had published a fact-check column raising questions about the story’s veracity since he had been unable to confirm details, updated the column after the arrest.  “While reporting this story, the Fact Checker had contacted the Franklin County agency to ask if such a referral had been made. Unlike similar Ohio county agencies we contacted, Franklin County officials did not offer a response,” Kessler wrote. The episode frustrated abortion rights supporters, who argued that the story was subject to a level of doubt and skepticism that is rarely applied to other single-source stories, such as news reports that take police at their word or stories with anecdotes from doctors about transgender teens being rushed into taking hormones. Publishing details about the case is also complicated by the fact that it concerns the sexual assault of a child, whose identity is protected by law. These types of stories are bound to become more common, reports my colleague Deanna Pan, underscoring the outsized impact of abortion bans on adolescents, who already face complex legal, social, and logistical hurdles to accessing reproductive health services. Experts told Pan the Supreme Court decision is also likely to reverse the decades-long decline in teen birth rates, and increase stigma and shame around youth pregnancy. Instead of expressing contrition for scoffing at a story about a child nearly forced to give birth to her rapist’s baby, the right is getting angry at the doctor who performed the abortion. Vice News reported that Indiana’s Republican attorney general is looking to investigate Bernard for not reporting the sexual assault to Indiana authorities, even though the crime took place in Ohio where police were already aware. In fact, Bernard had actually reported the abortion to Indiana authorities too, according to The New York Times.   A billboard read ‘Welcome to California where abortion is safe and still legal’ on July 12, 2022, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The billboard was paid for by Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. The number of patients from outside states increased 900 percent at Planned Parenthood clinics in San Bernardino and Orange counties the week following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case, which overturned Roe v. Wade. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) What I’m reading this week Unimaginable abortion stories will become more common. Is American journalism ready? (No, we clearly are not, according to this article.) — Nieman Lab Story of 10-year-old girl who had to travel out of state for abortion underscores impact of bans on adolescents — The Boston Globe How the very real story of a 10-year-old rape victim turned into a media fiasco — Media Nation The Massachusetts State House and Senate are at odds over later-term abortion law — The Boston Globe Joe Biden’s Dobbs Response Has Been Breathtakingly Awful — The Cut