Friday, June 28, 2013

PolitiFact Gets Facts Wrong on Abortion & Breast Cancer Link


by Drew Belsky
 
PolitiFact put out a “fact-check” this week that purports to debunk the link between induced abortion and breast cancer. Instead, it provides a guide on how to hoist yourself with logical fallacies—namely, the appeal to authority (“it’s true because experts say so”) and the argumentum ad populum (“it’s true because lots of people say so”).

They’re not shy about this, either: “PolitiFact does not do medical or scientific analysis. We rely, as we do in other areas, on the most reliable and independent sources available.”

Now, the problem with the appeal to authority is that it’s an invitation to play “dueling authorities.” So I’ll do that real quick.


Drew Belsky is Live Action's communications director. He is also the deputy editor at American Thinker.





 

No comments:

Post a Comment