Talk Radio Host Glenn Beck Says He'll Air Abortion Procedure
Syndicated Talk Show Host Has History of Playing Pranks on his Audience

April 29, 2004

Syndicated talk show host Glenn Beck has announced that he will carry the sounds of an abortion procedure on his program Friday.

Beck said he got the idea after a British TV station aired a program called "My Foetus", which showed an abortion.

Beck told his audience that the BBC aired the program because abortion was simply a "surgical procedure" - terminology, he said, that was also in evidence during last week's March for Women's Rights on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

"We have a listening audience of about 6 million," Beck told listeners during his Thursday morning broadcast. "We are going to air an abortion on tomorrow's program."

"I'm getting a lot of people who are pro-choice who are up in arms," said Beck. "They do not want this aired.... I understand that, because (they) fear the truth."

"Unfortunately, the pro-life people are also upset because they believe this is witness to a murder," he said. "I'm hacking-off everybody on both sides."

Beck may or may not actually be planning to air an abortion on his radio program. The quirky conservative talk show host has a long history of playing gags on his audience. Last summer, Beck told listeners he was planning on killing a small dog named "bobo" live on his radio program. The dog turned out to be a literary invention, but many of Beck's audience members were taken-in by the prank and complained to the ASPCA and his affiliates.

"This is the ultimate pro-choice," said Beck. "I believe you have a choice to make... but you have to arm yourself with the information."

UPDATE: On Friday, Glenn Beck's promise of an on-air abortion did indeed occur: audience members were shocked when Beck played clips from the partially aborted new liberal talk radio show, Air America, hosted by Al Franken.

Party Buddies Al Franken and Glenn Beck