French TV channel CNews has been fined €100,000 for calling abortion the leading “cause of death” in the world.
In February, a chart using figures from the World Health Organisation was presented during a programme showing that abortion constituted 52 percent of deaths worldwide; 73 million abortions each year.
The French media regulatory body (Arcom) stated: “Abortion cannot be presented as a cause of death,” and required CNews to publicly apologise, which the news presenter did a few days later. In November, the regulatory authority issued the hefty fine for the ‘offence’.
Fact, not fiction
Arcom went on to claim that aborted babies cannot be compared with deceased people because “in law they are not considered as persons”.
Abortion, the leading cause of death in the world, is unfortunately a fact, not an opinion.
Jean-Marie Le Méné, head of the pro-life Jérôme Lejeune Foundation commented: “In order for abortion to be practised with a clear conscience, it is forbidden to say that abortion takes life, otherwise the keystone of the system collapses. But who believes this fiction?”
He added: “Abortion, the leading cause of death in the world, is unfortunately a fact, not an opinion.”
Open censorship
Hélène de Lauzun, the Paris correspondent for The European Conservative, wrote that this situation “reveals the extent to which the debate on abortion is deadlocked in France”.
She commented that CNews “is regularly accused of violating journalistic ethics on the grounds that it defends ideological positions opposing the dominant tone.”
In conclusion, she stated that “censorship is no longer even masked, but is advancing openly”.
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