Biden’s Dubious Tale Of 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Gets Dismantled

Last week President Biden regurgitated a single-sourced claim that a 10-year-old girl was raped and forced to cross state lines to get an abortion.

“This isn’t some imagined horror. It is already happening. Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life,” the president said during the signing of an executive order on abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade.

On Friday, Biden was the latest to “pounce” on an Indiana abortionist’s claim that she saw a raped 10-year-old girl for an abortion. But the Indianapolis Star that reported this story is in full defensive crouch. The reporter isn’t talking.

The story was “too good to check.” pic.twitter.com/yUe7g4Bin8

— Divisive Arch-Conservative Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) July 10, 2022

The claim – sourced to Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, Caitlan Barnard – went viral, with multiple outlets breathlessly repeating it despite it having just one source, with no corroboration.

According to Barnard, she “received a call from ‘a child abuse doctor’ in Ohio who had a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant.” The Star reported that the child “was on her way to Indiana to Bernard’s care.”

This doesn’t add up…

It was so suspect that the Washington Post‘s resident fact checker, Glenn Kessler, declared that the claim did not meet journalistic standards.

“This is the account of a one-source story that quickly went viral around the world — and into the talking points of the president,” wrote the fact checker.

Kessler noted that “The only source cited for the anecdote was Bernard. She’s on the record, but there is no indication that the newspaper made other attempts to confirm her account.”

When Kessler reached out to the journalist who wrote the piece for the Indianapolis Star, the journalist who wrote the piece ghosted him. The paper’s executive editor, Bro Krift, wrote “The facts and sourcing about people crossing state lines into Indiana, including the 10-year-old girl, for abortions are clear. We have no additional comment at this time.”

Kessler notes what journalist Megan Fox pointed out days ago – that “Under Ohio law, a physician, as a mandated reporter under Ohio Revised Code 2151.421, would be required to report any case of known or suspected physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect of a child.”

“As a spot check, we contacted child services agencies in some of Ohio’s most populous cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. None of the officials we reached were aware of such a case in their areas.”

What’s more, abortion by 10-year-olds is very rare – with the Columbus Dispatch reporting that in 2020 there were just 52 girls under the age of 15 in the state who received abortions.

Now, for a master class in breaking down bullshit – here’s Megan Fox’s Jul 5 Twitter thread which dismantles the original claim.

🚩 #1. A pregnant 10 year old is evidence of a heinous crime against a child but in every article (and there are SO MANY) thre is no mention of criminal investigation, no police involvement, not even a town where this allegedly occurred. pic.twitter.com/pRuwtmWoR4