Fact check: Reality show star's post on rape, abortion offers mix of true, false claims

The claim: Arkansas allows rapists to sue their victims over abortion; an Oklahoma lawmaker believes God ordains rape; a judge gave joint custody to a rapist; and North Carolina doesn't allow people to withdraw consent for sex.

An Instagram post made Sept. 1 by Todd Chrisley, a Georgia-based Realtor with a reality television series on USA Network, includes a collage of four screenshots about rape and abortion laws in the U.S. with the caption: "What is wrong with this world and the people living in it?"

The claims made in the images, which were shared with Chrisley's 2.2 million followers, were that Arkansas allows rapists to sue to block an abortion, North Carolina doesn't allow someone to revoke their consent once sex has started, a rapist was given joint custody of his son and an Oklahoma representative allegedly said rape was "the will of God."

The caption with his post goes on: "How can a state allow a rapist to sue a woman for custody of a child conceived through her rape? How can a politician say that rape is the “will of God”? How can a state say that once sex starts a woman can’t say “stop”? Folks, if we don’t ... stand up and say NO MORE we will be living in a world with no boundaries or limits which will result in a world of fear, shame, degradation and anarchy, things like this need to be stopped and now."

Chrisley did not respond to a request for comment. but here is what USA TODAY found about the truth of his claims.

Meme misstates Arkansas abortion law

The first image appears to come from a February 2017 article posted by British news outlet The Independent. The headline states: "Arkansas just passed a law that will let rapists sue victims who want an abortion."

But that is not an accurate description of a law passed in Arkansas.

Signed by the governor in 2017, House Bill 1032 outlawed a common second-trimester abortion procedure, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The law doesn't allow anyone to sue the woman seeking an abortion. Instead, it allows parents (if the patient was a minor) and husbands to sue doctors for injunctive relief (i.e. to stop future procedures).

The only exception granted under the law: cases where the mother's life is at risk. No exception was made for rape — including spousal rape, which means a man convicted of rape could theoretically sue the doctor.

The bill also gave standing to lawsuits for "psychological injuries," but "civil damages shall not be awarded to a plaintiff if the pregnancy resulted from the criminal conduct of the plaintiff."

The law was challenged in 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union, and was blocked from taking effect that year by a U.S. District Court. Last month, a federal appeals panel removed the injunction.

This portion of the meme is false.

An Oklahoma legislator's thoughts on rape

The next image is of a headline that states, "Oklahoma Republican declares that rape is 'The will of God.'" This image also comes from an article written in 2017, but it isn't from a news outlet. Church and State is a London-based organization that claims its mission is "challenging religious privilege in public life."

The claim itself appears to be mostly true. Here's what happened:

Back in March 2017, the Oklahoma legislature was debating an abortion bill that would make it illegal for doctors to perform the procedure if the reason given was a genetic disorder.

Republican Rep. George Faught, who co-sponsored the bill, got into an exchange with Democratic Rep. Cory Williams about why the bill didn't have an exemption for rape and incest.

Here's a transcript, but you can watch the exchange by clicking here.

Faught doesn't explicitly say that rape is the will of God, as the headline on the article would lead someone to believe, but that's the logical conclusion drawn from his statements: that God is sovereign (supreme ruler) over every part of a person's life, and at least allowed the rape to occur — although he commanded the death penalty for the offense.

A custody situation and a rapist

The third image in the post claims, "Man who raped 12-year-old awarded joint custody of her child."

This headline comes from an October 2017 Yahoo! News article that outlines how Christopher Mirasolo was given joint custody of a child despite being convicted of raping the boy's mother years earlier and sexually assaulting another underage victim.

The story was accurate, however, the judge quickly reversed his order, according to Detroit News.

“I do believe given the way this consent order was presented, I should have been advised the defendant raped the plaintiff," Sanilac County Judge Gregory Ross said at the time. "(Prosecutor James) Young advised he is reviewing his procedures. He is doing what he can to correct the mistake and see that it doesn’t happen again.”

The caption on the Instagram post gives only part of the story.

Getting away with rape?

The fourth image appears to be from a television report about a North Carolina law. USA TODAY could not verify the source of the image, and the person who posted it did not respond to a request for comment.

The image appears to potentially be taken out of context, and combined with the caption presents false information.

It correctly states that North Carolina law didn't allow a person to withdraw consent once a sex act had begun and that state lawmakers were considering a change. However, the image doesn't explain what those changes were.

In November 2019, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a law that made it illegal for someone to continue intercourse after one partner revokes consent, according to The News & Observer. It also made it a crime to have sex with someone who is incapacitated from drugs or alcohol.

“Finally, in North Carolina, no means no,” Cooper said at the time.

But Chrisley's contention, "How can a state say that once sex starts a woman can’t say 'stop'?" is false under that law.

Our rating: Partly false

USA TODAY verified three of the images as being from articles written at the time of the events and one that appeared likely to come from a real news report. However, the images were missing critical context — including the outright reversal of two of the implied offenses — and ultimately with the caption present a mixture of true and false information. We rate this claim as PARTLY FALSE.

Our fact-check sources:

• Independent, Feb. 3, 2017, Arkansas passes law allowing rapists to prevent victims who want a surgical abortion

• State of Arkansas, House Bill text 1032

• Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Jan. 27, 2017, Arkansas governor signs bill restricting common procedure for second-trimester abortions

• YouTube, March 22, 2017, Oklahoma State Rep says Rape or Incest is "the will of God"

• Yahoo News, Oct. 8, 2017, Man who raped 12-year-old awarded joint custody of her child

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astaver@dispatch.com

@AnnaStaver

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Fact check: Meme's headlines on rape, abortion aren't all true