Biden's 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Claim Questionable

If it’s too good (or too outlandish) to be true, it probably isn’t.

President Biden railed against the Supreme Court Friday for its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That decision overturned the nearly 50-year reign of Roe v. Wade that made abortion a constitutional right.

He referred to the Dobbs decision as being "terrible, extreme, and, I think, so totally wrongheaded decision to overturn Roe v. Wade."

Biden implied that with Dobbs, the court criminalized abortion.

He said that "even 150 years ago, the common law and many state laws did not criminalize abortion early in pregnancy, which is very similar to the viability line drawn by Roe."

But Dobbs didn’t criminalize anything. It left the regulation of abortion up to the democratic process, through state legislatures and Congress.

And when Biden was a senator early into his career, he actually supported a constitutional amendment that would have overturned Roe and send the issue to the states — precisely what the Dobbs decision did.

But what may have been his biggest whopper was likely a story he told about a 10-year-old girl.

"Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim in Ohio — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of the state, to Indiana, to seek to terminate the presidency [he meant pregnancy] and maybe save her life," he said.

Biden continued, "Does anyone believe that it’s the highest majority view that that should not be able to be dealt with, or in any other state in the nation? A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapist’s child? I can tell you what: I don’t. I can’t think of anything as much more extreme."

The story came from a single source: the Indianapolis Star. The Star, in turn, also relied on a single source: Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist who is also a very vocal pro-abortion activist.

Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler was unable to verify the now-viral story. He reached out to the Indianapolis Star for additional details and hit a brick wall.

"The story’s lead reporter, Shari Rudavsky, did not respond to a query asking whether additional sourcing was obtained," he wrote.

"A Gannett spokeswoman provided a comment from Bro Krift, the newspaper’s executive editor: 'The facts and sourcing about people crossing state lines into Indiana, including the 10-year-old girl, for abortions are clear. We have no additional comment at this time.'"

He then reached out directly to the OB-GYN specialist that the Star relied on.

"Bernard declined to identify to the Fact Checker her colleague or the city where the child was located. 'Thank you for reaching out. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any information to share,' she said in an email."

Kessler also contacted the county child protective agencies serving some of Ohio’s largest cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo. Nothing.

He even tried Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office, which was unaware of any such case. Dan Tierney, DeWine’s press secretary, told Kessler that although such records are decentralized, "The rape of a 10-year-old certainly would be newsworthy."

And that may be the most damning thing about the story: an actual rape of a 10-year-old girl would have made national headlines, as would have the arrest of the rapist.

PJ Media’s Megan Fox listed 10 red flags that should have made any serious journalist hesitate as not passing the "smell test," including:

• No mention of criminal investigation, no police involvement, not even a town where this allegedly occurred
• The timing of this horrific story is too on the nose. Roe v. Wade was just overturned
• It was immediately used as a political weapon against Republican Governor Kristi Noem and will be used against other pro-life politicians
• Dr. Caitlyn Bernard, the only source, is an abortionist and has been in The New York Times participating in an anti-Trump hit piece and is clearly an activist. She has a stake in preserving abortion, it literally pays her bills.

Biden can perhaps be forgiven. Although he based his entire life and career on telling whoppers, at least this one didn’t come from him.

The fault this time lay in the reporting, where the politics of a divisive subject appears to prevail over truth and accuracy. The media’s job is to tell it the way it is — not the way they want it to be.

Besides, if it’s too good (or too outlandish) to be true, it probably isn’t.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.