NBC ‘Explains’ Why Texas Counted An Unborn Child At 8 Months As A Church Shooting Victim
NBC published an interesting piece over the weekend in the aftermath of the brutal church shooting that happened on November 5th and left 26 innocent people dead.
From the piece:
The mass shooting one week ago inside of a rural Texas church devastated three generations of the Holcombe family. Among the dead were Crystal Holcombe, 36, and her three children — Megan, 9, Emily, 11, and Greg, 13.
But Holcombe was also eight months pregnant, a cousin told The Associated Press. When authorities released the identities of the 26 victims, included on the list was Holcombe’s unborn child: Carlin Brite “Billy Bob.”
Texas’ decision to count the fetus in the final tally wouldn’t be unusual nationwide, laws in states across the U.S. suggest. But it does raise questions about whether the death of an unborn child should be treated as murder and at which stage of its existence.
Perhaps the most crucial bit of information (intentionally?) left out of the piece is the survival rate of unborn babies at 32 weeks:
28-31 weeks 90 to 95 percent
32-33 weeks 95 percent
34+ weeks Almost as likely as a full-term baby
Sources: March of Dimes, Quint Boenker Preemie Survival Foundation
In other words:
The unborn baby was *8 months* along. Presumably would have survived if the mother had not been murdered and had given birth early. I really hate journalism sometimes. https://t.co/wMLu22ELjD
— Sister Toldjah ? (@sistertoldjah) November 13, 2017
The “Facts First” crew at CNN, unfortunately, got in on the act as well – differentiating between “people” and “unborn child.”
A Texas church has held its first service since a gunman opened fire, killing 25 people and an unborn child one week ago https://t.co/GcPUdLK7cz pic.twitter.com/N5dDIm7asZ
— CNN (@CNN) November 12, 2017
Daily Wire‘s Amanda Prestigiacomo provides the timely correction:
So 26. https://t.co/pD5c3Do0wp
— Amanda (@AmandaPresto) November 13, 2017
Indeed.
Would Carlin Brite “Billy Bob” have survived if his mother Crystal had given birth to him prematurely at 8 months? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
Please continue to keep the families and the victims of the Texas church shooting in your thoughts and prayers.
(Originally published at American Lens)