'I'm Killing My Child On Thursday': Famous Actress Begged For Forgiveness In 1991 Diary Entry

Verdict: This Daily Caller article accurately transcribes Christina Applegate's 1991 diary entries from her memoir, highlighting her expressed guilt over an abortion, but employs loaded editorial framing and omits verifiable contextual facts about her age and relationship, tilting toward a pro-life interpretation.

Accurate Reporting

The piece excels in directly quoting Applegate's diary, verified via an audio version of her memoir *You with the Sad Eyes* (as sourced from NewsBusters). Key excerpts include:

“Well, yesterday I found out I was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant … I love this being … This creature’s incredible — makes me feel whole, safe.”

“I’m fucking pregnant, and I’m killing my child on Thursday. I’m thinking, ‘Where the fuck can I go to recuperate from murder?’"

These match reports from multiple outlets reviewing the memoir, providing readers with primary source material on her contemporaneous emotions.

Key Techniques and Findings

• Loaded language amplifies personal guilt into moral judgment: Terms like "sacrificed her child to her career ambitions" and "post hoc ramblings of a woman who knows what she is doing is very wrong" interpret her words beyond direct quotation. The article states: "Applegate was fully aware that abortion is the taking of a life. She still sacrificed her child to her career ambitions." This reframes her diary as objective condemnation, though she uses "murder" herself.

• Cherry-picking diary lines: Emphasizes "I can’t have this baby because I have work to do to entertain this fucking world," implying career as sole motive, while including family opposition but not fuller context.

• Generalization beyond the subject: Adds "Most women who abort their babies rationalize..." without evidence, extending one woman's words to a broader claim.

• Emotional quoting structure: Features an extensive poem to the fetus for sympathy, immediately followed by dismissive framing of her later reflections.

Verifiable Omissions and Impact

Two concrete facts from the memoir—confirmed in excerpts published by *The Hollywood Reporter*, *Entertainment Weekly*, and *People*—are absent:

• Applegate was 19 years old in 1991, during her rise as a young actress on *Married... with Children*.
• The pregnancy stemmed from an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, involving physical violence and emotional manipulation (e.g., memoir: "I don't really understand my relationship anymore. It isn't good.").

These details appear in her diary and memoir narrative, directly informing her decision alongside work and family pressures. Omitting them narrows the portrayal to career focus, altering reader understanding of her circumstances without misstating quoted lines.

Source and Author Context

• Daily Caller: Self-describes as countering "liberal bias" in mainstream media; features politically conservative content, including praise for Trump-era policies.
• Primary source: NewsBusters, a Media Research Center affiliate focused on perceived media bias from a conservative viewpoint.
• Author Natalie Sandoval: Recent Daily Caller contributor with opinion pieces on social issues, including critiques of cultural norms around relationships.

No factual errors in quotes, but sourcing aligns with outlet's editorial stance.

Contrasting Coverage

Mainstream and commercial outlets covering the memoir largely omit the abortion diary, prioritizing other themes:

Conservative amplification (e.g., NewsBusters) contrasts with this selective silence, suggesting partisan interest in the abortion angle.

Bottom line: Strengths include faithful quoting that lets Applegate's raw words speak, making it a valuable primary-source dispatch for pro-life readers. Weaknesses lie in interpretive overreach and omitted facts that provide fuller context, reducing balance for general audiences. Solid on facts, but transparent editorializing would strengthen it.

Further Reading

• NYT: 'Christina Applegate's New Memoir Is Furious, Funny and Profane'
• Goodreads: You with the Sad Eyes
• ABC Nightline: Christina Applegate Talks New Memoir
• Amazon: Product Page

*(Word count: 612)*