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Fox News has long downplayed the impacts of overturning Roe

Americans prefer the preservation of Roe. The network allowed Trump to claim the opposite.

Special Programs Abortion Rights & Reproductive Health

Written by Charis Hoard

Published

During an October 16 town hall hosted by Fox News, former President Donald Trump falsely proclaimed —  unchallenged by host Harris Faulkner — that the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was a popular one that came after “years and years of turmoil.” 

Fox News has long downplayed the impact of Roe’s reversal, virtually ignoring the near-total state-level abortion bans that went into effect after, claimed that reactions to reversal were “overblown,” and even suggested that people should move if they don’t like the decision.

  • Trump asserted in a Fox News town hall that the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe was popular

    • During a town hall hosted by Fox News that included only women as audience members, Trump erroneously claimed that overturning Roe v. Wade was a popular decision. As CNN reported, “Trump repeated his false claim that ‘everybody,’ even ‘the Democrats’ and ‘the liberals,’ wanted the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision overturned and the power to set abortion policy left to individual states; he added, ‘Nobody wanted it to be in the federal government.’” [CNN, 10/16/24]
    • In reality, a large majority of Americans preferred the preservation of Roe. According to multiple polls conducted from June 2022 -- when the Supreme Court overturned Roe via its Dobbs v. Jackson decision -- to 2024, disapproval for overturning Roe has sat at 57-65% for registered voters. Support for overturning Roe among registered voters has never exceeded 36% according to polling numbers since 1989, according to CNN. [CNN, 10/16/24, 8/27/24]

  • Fox News previously minimized the effects of overturning Roe and claimed that the reaction to the ruling was “overblown”

    • In September 2024, Fox News failed to report on the deaths of two women in Georgia that reportedly stemmed from the state’s six-week abortion ban. [Media Matters, 9/19/24]
    • In August 2024, MacCallum downplayed the importance of abortion as a campaign issue. While covering the Democratic National Convention for Fox News, MacCallum stated, “This is one of the biggest issues for the Democrat Party. They believe that this is going to help them win in November. … But there are voters, Hispanic voters, Black voters, lots of voters out there who -- for whom, this is not a good issue.” [Fox News, Fox News Democracy 2024 - The Democratic National Convention, 8/19/24]
    • OutKick's Clay Travis claimed on Fox that the overturning of Roe actually led to “a flourishing of the democratic process.” Travis: “Kamala is trying to lie to everybody about The Handmaid's Tale just like they tried to lie about COVID. They have to terrify everybody. That's the only way they get votes.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 8/9/24]
    • In July, Fox News almost completely ignored Iowa’s new six-week abortion ban on the day it went into effect. Fox mentioned the ban 2 times for less than a minute on the day it went into effect, and both mentions came during segments “focused on Democratic candidates' campaign messaging rather than segments detailing the ban and its consequences.” [Media Matters, 7/31/24]
    • In May, Fox News barely mentioned Florida’s six-week abortion ban on the first full day after the law went into effect. On the day of the ruling, Fox News hosted Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and didn’t ask her about the ban; instead, she criticized Title IX changes proposed by the Biden administration. [Media Matters, 5/2/24]
    • In April, Fox News buried news of Arizona’s near-total abortion ban, with the evening lineup completely ignoring it on the day of the ruling and total coverage that day adding up to just 12 minutes. In comparison, CNN and MSNBC each had over 2 hours of coverage on the ban. [Media Matters, 4/10/24]
    • In February, Fox News mostly ignored  Alabama’s Supreme Court ruling that put IVF access in jeopardy in the state. In its 6 minutes of coverage from February 16, when the ruling came out, through February 21, Fox News senior legal correspondent downplayed the effects of the ruling, falsely claiming that those seeking IVF had nothing to fear, despite noting that some clinics had paused their operations due to the ruling. [Media Matters, 2/22/24]
    • Fox News’ Jesse Watters erroneously claimed that a story of a 10-year-old rape survivor having to travel to Indiana for an abortion was fake and failed to correct his claim after it was debunked. Fox News pundits also attacked the integrity of the OB-GYN providing the procedure, claiming that she had “purposefully misreported the alleged perpetrator’s age on a mandatory filing form, listing him as a minor.” [Media Matters, 7/15/22, 7/14/22, 7/15/22, 7/20/22, 7/6/23]
    • After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Fox hosts and guests downplayed the effects of the ruling, suggesting people should just move out of their state if they don’t like the decision. Fox host Jesse Watters said, “If you don’t like the state you live in, you can leave. Millions of Americans move out of state every year.” Fox guest Mike Davis stated, “If you don’t like abortion regulation, move to California.” [Media Matters, 6/30/22]
    • Fox anchor Martha MacCallum dismissed the impact of the ruling: “Abortion has been declining. It's down 20 percent the last 15 to 20 years. And also with these over-the-counter medications that can end a pregnancy quickly, it's not the issue that it once was.” [Media Matters, 6/24/22]
    • Fox host Mark Levin claimed the decision is “not taking anybody's rights away.” [Media Matters, 6/24/22]
    • Just before the 2022 midterm election cycle, Fox figures repeatedly denied that abortion was or should be a motivating factor for anyone voting. MacCallum claimed, “My sense is that it is not as strong a political issue when you get to November.” Fox anchor Bill Hemmer assessed that abortion was “way down the list” in terms of issues important to voters in the midterms. [Media Matters, 10/25/22]