Jim Jordan deleted tweet claiming story about 10-year-old girl forced to travel for abortion was ‘another lie’
Republican congressman joined right-wing figures discrediting the case
Republican US Rep Jim Jordan of Ohio appears to have deleted a post on Twitter calling the case of a 10-year-old girl in his home state who traveled to Indiana for an abortion “another lie”.
On 13 July, he appeared to delete the message following news that a suspect was arrested and charged.
One day earlier, after right-wing media outlets and personalities doubted the veracity of the case or claimed it was false, Congressman Jordan wrote: “Another lie. Anyone surprised?”
That post was also shared by the Twitter account for the House Judiciary Committee’s Republican members.
On 13 July, he shared a link to coverage of the suspect’s arrest, adding that the suspect “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gerson Fuentes, 27, reportedly confessed to raping the girl on at least two occasions, according to police in Columbus, Ohio.
Police were alerted to a referral from Franklin County Children Services made by the girl’s mother on 22 June, according to testimony during Fuentes’ arraignment on 13 July as reported by the Columbus Dispatch.
Two days later, the US Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right to abortion care by overturning the half-century precedent established by Roe v Wade . Hours later, Ohio officials enacted a state law that outlaws abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, including in cases from rape or incest.
On June 30, the girl received an abortion in Indianapolis, Indiana, according to the Dispatch.
The case was first reported on 1 July by the Indianapolis Star, which spoke with Dr Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indiana. President Joe Biden also invoked the case in remarks at the White House before signing an executive order on abortion rights.
Right-wing media personalities and outlets rushed to discredit the report and attacked the legitimacy of Dr Bernard.
On his Fox News programme on 12 July, Tucker Carlson claimed that the case was “not true”. Fox News host Jesse Watters also elevated those doubts in primetime segments on 11 July.
Ohio’s Republican attorney general Dave Yost – who filed the motion to dissolve the injunction that blocked the state’s anti-abortion law minutes after the Supreme Court ruling – claimed on the programme that there was not the “slightest hint that this had occurred there”. He also told USA Today that the case is “more likely” a “fabrication”.
The Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board – in an editorial titled “An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm” – claimed that “there’s no evidence the girl exists” and determined that the case is an “unlikely story from a biased source that neatly fits the progressive narrative but can’t be confirmed.”
The editorial also mentions the website PJ Media and its writer Megan Fox, who claimed that the case “should now be placed in the hoax category” after she appeared on Mr Watters’ programme.