By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-27 19:28:25 | Updated at 2024-11-27 22:36:38
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // A French news channel was fined 100,000 euros for listing abortion as the leading cause of death worldwide.
New Daily Compass reported that the French Media Regulatory Authority (ARCOM) charged the conservative channel CNews Nov. 13 for an episode that aired Feb. 25.
ARCOM accused the channel of failing in its “obligation of honesty and rigour in the presentation and handling of information.”
The infographic presenting abortion as a leading cause of death showed that in 2022, 73 million babies were killed by abortion, accounting for 52% of deaths. The infographic compared the number to cancer deaths, numbering at 10 million, and tobacco-related deaths, numbering at 6.2 million. The numbers were based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The program included pro-life and pro-family Catholic guests, and the channel is owned by Catholic businessman Vincent Bolloré.
After violent backlash from liberal and socialist politicians, the channel apologized for the “handling error.”
Jean-Marie Le Méné, head of a research foundation dedicated to caring for those with disabilities, Fondation Jérôme Lejeune, responded to the ruling in an editorial in the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles.
Le Méné argued that ARCOM ruled that abortion cannot be reported as a leading cause of death because that would indicate that abortion is murder.
“In order for abortion to be practised with a clear conscience, it is forbidden to say that abortion takes life,” Le Méné said. “Otherwise the keystone of the system collapses. But who believes this fiction?… Abortion, the leading cause of death in the world, is unfortunately a fact, not an opinion.”
