Planned Parenthood Keeps Lying About Babies Who Survive Abortions

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jan 14, 2021   |   8:31PM   |   Augusta, Maine

Planned Parenthood keeps lying to the public about babies surviving abortions.

And news outlets continue to parrot its false claims without question.

The latest example comes from an article published in the “progressive” Maine Beacon. It described several pro-life bills introduced in the Maine legislature this month, including state Rep. MaryAnne Kinney’s bill (LR 1363) to require that babies who survive abortions be provided with the same basic medical care that any other baby would receive.

Nicole Clegg, senior vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund, told the news outlet that Kinney’s legislation is based on “junk science.”

“[It] makes the erroneous claim that fetuses could end up being delivered alive during an abortion, which is not something that happens, but it is something that we see legislation around,” Clegg said. “We’ve also actually seen advertisements on television making these same erroneous claims.”

In a press release, the abortion chain also claimed Kinney’s and other pro-life bills are based on “medically inaccurate misinformation and lies,” according to the report.

The Maine Beacon did not question Clegg’s assertions, though it is not the first time abortion activists have deceived the public. In 2015, former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards denied ever hearing of a baby who survived an abortion during a U.S. Congressional hearing.

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But there is ample evidence to prove otherwise.

Babies do survive abortions, though no one is sure exactly how many. In America, most states do not keep track of abortion survivors, but a few do. Between 2016 and 2018, three states reported 40 babies were born alive after botched abortions. According to the state health data, 11 babies were born alive in Minnesota, 10 in Arizona and 19 in Florida.

Additionally, Texas reported six babies were born alive in botched abortions in 2019. In Michigan, state health reports from 2008 through 2013 indicate that 11 babies were born alive during abortions.

Reports from other countries prove that babies survive abortions, too, and legal protections for them are needed. In Canada, the Canadian Institute of Health Information recorded 766 late-term, live-birth abortions over a five-year period in 2018. And in Australia, the country’s health minister admitted that 27 babies survived abortions in the state of Western Australia between 1999 and 2016. A report out of Ireland in the fall also suggests babies are surviving abortions and being left to die there.

Then there are abortion survivors themselves, people like Melissa OhdenClaire CulwellGianna Jessen and Josiah Presley who share their stories publicly to raise awareness about the cruelty of abortion. The Abortion Survivors Network has connected with 356 people across the world who survived abortion attempts on their lives.

Testimonies from nurses and news reports provide even more evidence. In 2016, the Arizona news station NBC 11 Alive uncovered audio evidence about a baby who was born alive at a late-term abortion facility in Phoenix, Arizona and transported to a local hospital. The baby later died.

A 2002 article in The Journal of Clinical Nursing also described how nurses sometimes witness babies being born alive in abortions:

“In the case of late termination, the death of the fetus before delivery, though usual, is not inevitable except in rare cases of extreme physical abnormality[.] … At times the fetus will actually attempt to breathe or move its limbs, which makes the experience extremely distressing for nurses. Also, whereas the woman will probably go through this process once in her lifetime, nurses may go through it several times a year or even in the same week. (1)”

Yet, the lie persists – and continues – as Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups fight against ongoing efforts to protect babies who survive abortions from infanticide.

Kentucky just passed a bill to protect abortion survivors last week; both Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union lobbied against it and now are urging the governor to veto the legislation.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have been trying to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act for years. The bill would increase protections for babies who survive abortions. The bill would require that the same basic medical care be provided to babies who survive abortions as would be provided to any other baby born at the same gestational age. It also would impose penalties on medical workers who neglect to provide that care. However, Democrat lawmakers who receive campaign donations from Planned Parenthood blocked the legislation dozens of times.