Pro-Birth Party Melts Down Over Woman Trying to Have Baby

Oregon is on fire and our officials refuse to use the words "climate change," and Trump has attacked more journalists than he has passed legislation

Good morning, AlterNet America family.

Welcome to the Saturday Wrapup, where I give you my thoughts on the week’s biggest news as I consume my caffeine with you. I don’t actually drink coffee, so special shoutout to you energy drink and tea-lovers out there.

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Most of the time, the way mainstream media covers certain issues makes me want to tear my hair out. But there’s a few stories from this week that were especially bad. Let’s talk about them.

Republicans Want Women to Have More Babies, Just Not on Their Terms

For nearly 10 years now, Republicans have warned Americans that women are not having enough children. If they were capable of self-reflection, their reactions to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez freezing her eggs might give them a hint as to why women are so reluctant.

On Saturday, the New York Rep. posted a video of herself getting a fertility shot in preparation of having her eggs frozen. It’s the kind of thing you’d think would get a thumbs-up from the pro-baby people. Any woman in her mid-thirties willing to undergo a costly and uncomfortable medical procedure to secure her chances of becoming a mom later on in life should be a victory.

Instead, she was widely mocked by the conservative press, with some going so far as to accuse her of being selfish for waiting to have children, or insinuating that women without kids shouldn’t be weighing in on family policy.

While pundits like Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro laughed, the White House grew nervous. A senior official told Axios the criticism of AOC was “not helpful,” noting many Republican women choose the same path. One MAGA consultant said that she has many conservative friends who froze their eggs so they could have families later in life, and that the decision should be celebrated.

We live in an age where even men are having to choose between a career and a family. If Republicans actually cared about birth rates, they’d expand IVF access, fund paid family leave, and pass universal childcare.

But they don’t, because the only version of motherhood their movement actually supports is the one where women don’t get to choose when or how it happens.

Oregon Is on Fire and the Media Still Won’t Say “Climate Change”

If your state breaks its wildfire record twice in three years, the problem isn’t the weather.

It’s only August, but Oregon already burned more acreage in a single wildfire season than ever before. In fact, 2.3 million acres have burned in Oregon this year, which blows away the previous record of 2.08 million set in 2024. There are currently 48 wildfires burning in Oregon, and 63% of all firefighting resources in the U.S. are fighting fires in the Northwest.

Just one of those fires, the Rowe Creek Complex, has burned more than 370,000 acres and isn’t fully contained yet.

The fires were started by a lightning storm, and because the area was so dry, plants acted almost like tinder. Firefighters say that they’ve never seen conditions like this in their entire lives, and while it’s a line we’re hearing more and more often each year, we can’t keep acting like Oregon setting a new record for acres burned twice in three years is normal.

The fire season is starting sooner and ending later because the Earth is getting hotter.

The media portrays the wildfires as isolated incidents, and while they may mention abnormally dry conditions, there’s no discussion that connects them to climate change. But linking the fires to climate change would mean linking climate change to the fossil fuel industry, and the fossil fuel companies that pay for commercials aren’t very keen on that.

Trump Has Attacked the Press Over 100 Times Since Taking Office

The White House has now attacked more journalists than it has passed bills.

There are now over 100 examples of the Trump administration taking action against journalists since Inauguration Day, according to Poynter’s Press Freedom Watch. That’s bans on access to the White House, raids on the homes of reporters, the arrest of Don Lemon at a protest in Minnesota, the requirement that members of the Pentagon press pool sign a loyalty oath, and beyond.

Nearly 20 percent of those acts were by Trump. He signed an order ending funding to sources he dislikes, then personally took over the press pool at the White House so he could decide which journalists get to enter.

His administration also created a database, the so-called “Bias Tracker,” which identifies journalists who have reported on the White House in an “unfriendly” way. In April, Trump told a roomful of reporters that covered a rescue mission in Iran to reveal their sources or face jail time.

While the NYT and Washington Post can push back against unconstitutional orders because they have billionaire owners and institutional power, the news outlets who are doing the most critical work right now can’t.

We don’t have any of that at AlterNet America. We don’t accept money from billionaires or advertisers because we don’t want them controlling our content. We’d rather ask you for five dollars than owe a favor to someone with five billion.

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—Ryan Rose, Co-Founder & Managing Editor, AlterNet America