"The Sperm Stops Here!" was allegedly intended as satire. The tip-off is Burk's lead-in: "A modest proposal ..." This refers to Jonathan Swift's famous 1729 satire "A Modest Proposal" in which he exaggerates British policies in Ireland in order to discredit them. He carries British callousness to its logical conclusion by suggesting that the English farm and eat Irish babies. Swift intends to elicit horror in his readers.
But is "The Sperm Stops Here!" really a hoax?
Kathryn Lopez in National Review and Rush Limbaugh on his radio program took the article at face value -- much to both of their embarrassment. But there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
For example, in contrast to Swift's classic piece, Burk was defending a policy -- abortion -- by ascribing absurd positions to its opponents, which they have never held. She opens by stating that both sides believe "if all babies were planned ... women wouldn't seek abortions." If abortion is outlawed, therefore, men at puberty must be chemically sterilized. Then state tribunals (and women) could plan all babies. Burk is eliciting contempt for those who question abortion.
FoxNews, dumb and dumber. (via tapped)
Read the whole thing to discover that up really is down, white is black, cats are sleeping with dogs...