Wisconsin Senator Expands Call to Probe Planned Parenthood on Abortion Video
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 21, 2009
Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) — A Wisconsin state senator is expanding his call for an investigation of a Planned Parenthood abortion center shown on an undercover video misleading women about abortion and fetal development. Live Action’s latest video has an abortion practitioner and staffer saying abortion does not kill a human being.
The video also shows the staff misleading two women posing as potential abortion customers by telling them that the heart of the unborn child doesn’t begin to beat until late in pregnancy — instead of at about 22 days as is the case.
Senator Glenn Grothman has already called for an investigation and, on Friday, circulated a letter for legislators to sign onto asking the Medical Society and the Medical Examining Board to investigate the abortion practitioner in the incident.
The abortion practitioner, Dr. Prohaska, tells the woman, "you don’t want to wait" to get an abortion, that an abortion is “very, very safe . . . much safer than having a baby” and warns her, "women die having babies."
Grothman told LifeNews.com that Prohaska "is clearly choosing his words carefully to encourage a young woman to have an abortion."
“It seems to me that in order to keep the high reputation of Wisconsin’s medical profession, we cannot have doctors distorting medical truths in order to increase their incomes," he said. “It is important that both the State Medical Society and the Medical Examining Board investigate whether Dr. Prohaska should be allowed to continue to perform abortions in the state of Wisconsin.”
"In the interest of public safety and women’s health, it is shocking that Planned Parenthood has not dismissed Dr. Prohaska on its own," he continued.
Grothman complained that the Wisconsin state government gives Planned Parenthood approximately $6 million in taxpayer dollars per year through the Family Planning Waiver program alone.
That is in addition to approximately $12 million through Title V, X and XIX funding that Planned Parenthood receives.
"The idea that an organization that receives millions of tax dollars would mislead a young woman, in order to get another $300-$400 for an abortion is appalling," he said.
"I would hope to hear from both the State Medical Society and the Medical Examining Board as to whether or not they feel this behavior is appropriate and this level of misinformation is in the public’s best interest," he concluded.
Lila Rose, the president of the group, told LifeNews.com that it has sent the full unedited footage to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider for review.
"Planned Parenthood poses as a mainstream health provider but their actions reflect just the opposite: they hide the scientific facts of fetal development so they can sell more abortions to more women," she told LifeNews.com.
"An abortion is not a mere surgery. Instead, abortion determines whether a woman’s unborn son or daughter will live or die," Rose added.
"Planned Parenthood’s pattern of medical malpractice and refusal to accept correction from scientific authorities further separates them from the rest of the medical community, who base their treatment on sound scientific guidance, not deceiving patients," she continued.
Rose tells LifeNews.com that the problems are such that state or local officials should conduct an investigation looking into the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Bill Cosh, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, confirmed to the Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper that it received the complaint that Planned Parenthood violated the state’s informed consent laws.
He said he referred Live Action to the Outagamie County District Attorney’s office, which would prosecute any such crimes locally.
In the video, both the abortion doctor and counselor repeatedly insist to a reportedly 10-week-pregnant woman that the unborn child "is not a baby" and offer several contradicting definitions of "embryo" and "fetus."
The counselor claims that the baby’s heart does not start beating until "about seventeen or eighteen weeks."
Two leading embryologists, Drs. Dianne Irving and Ward Kischer, stepped forward last Thursday and called information presented during the counseling session "scientifically erroneous and absurd."
Teri Huyck, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, released a statement asserting that the abortion doctor provided "honest, medically accurate information." Huyck called the videos "edited."
Recently, Kay Herrling, fiscal manager for the county’s Health and Human Services Department, confirmed to the newspaper a LifeNews.com report showing the county has sent tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to the abortion center.
Related web sites:
See the new video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIXHrusvMDw
Live Action – https://www.liveaction.org
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