Pro-choicers call for the media to 'stop giving air-time to anti-abortion activists'

Pro-choice proponents are calling upon the media stop covering pro-life activists when reporting on the issue of abortion.

Physicians for Reproductive Health posted a public letter that suggests that abortion opponents should be shunned by the media.

"We are writing today with a big request: stop giving air-time to anti-abortion activists. As the undersigned over 600 providers of abortion care, people who have had abortions and will have abortions, abortion advocates, and individuals who work with the media regularly, we could not be more concerned for the safety and well-being of our communities, in part because of the misinformation, disinformation, and inflammatory threats shared and encouraged by anti-abortion activists in the media," the letter declares.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America and NARAL Pro-Choice America are listed among the various entities and individuals supporting the letter.

"We know your reporting standards are to cover 'both sides' of any debate. Allow us to be clear: Medicine and science are not up for debate. Health care is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. And the fact is, abortion is not in the realm of theory or belief. Abortion belongs in health care, social services, and public health reporting," the letter continues.

"With this in mind, we are asking for a commitment from the community of media outlets reporting on abortion to keep in mind the true danger that you present when interviewing anti-abortion extremists. You are giving the opportunity for dangerous lies to spread. You are, by way of asking them questions, legitimizing their answers. You are allowing hateful, dangerous harassers to build a base that encourages protesting at clinics, stalking and harming clinic staff and abortion providers, and online and in-person abuse of people who have abortions and those who support them in getting that care," the message reads.

On Twitter, Physicians for Reproductive Health claimed that pro-life advocates are racists and that it is "violent" to quote them.

"The Venn diagram of anti-abortion activists and white supremacists is a flat circle. Many of the physicians in our community are Black, brown, trans, & queer. So are the people who read abortion pieces. Quoting antis isn't just disingenuous - it's violent," the organization tweeted. "Abortion is love, community, hope, and liberation," another tweet declared.