A new “gotcha” investigation of pro-life pregnancy centers this week does the opposite of what abortion activists intended, inadvertently revealing the truth about abortion while exposing the lies that abortion activists frequently tell women.
Abortion activists like to pretend that abortions are basically risk-free, which is nonsense. Every medical procedure has risks, but they rarely mention what the risks are. And when pro-life advocates bring up evidence of these risks, the pro-abortion crowd shouts “Lies! Lies!”
That basically is what happens in the new “undercover investigation” by abortion activist Olivia Raisner, published Friday. In the video, she visits five pregnancy resources centers in Indiana with a hidden camera, pretending to be a pregnant woman considering abortion. The video “fact checks” several supposed “lies” that pro-life counselors told her.
The pro-abortion blog Jezebel described Raisner as an undercover investigative reporter, but she really works for a pro-abortion group called Mayday Health, which promotes dangerous, mail-order abortion pills to women all across the country.
Early in the video, the “investigation” contradicts itself. After describing pro-life pregnancy centers as “fake medical clinics,” Raisner admits that all the centers she visited “clearly state” at the beginning of the visit that they are not medical facilities.
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Most of her “investigation” focuses on the “disinformation” that pro-life counselors allegedly tell about unborn babies and abortion risks to “dissuade pregnant people from choosing abortion.”
They “relay a lot of medical information,” Raisner says as the video shows fetal models and highlights the phrase, “Science tells us that human life begins at conception.” “But the problem is that it’s false,” she continues.
Actually, the scientific consensus is that a unique, living human being comes into existence at conception. Medical textbooks and professors, scientists, researchers and other experts all confirm it to be true.
At another point, the video shows a pro-life counselor talking with Raisner about abortion risks, including infertility, suicide and mental health problems. Later, she told Jezebel that most of the pregnancy center counselors told her the same thing.
“There is no link between abortion and suicide,” the video states over the counselor’s words, without citing any evidence to back up the claim.
In truth, several studies have found a higher suicide rate among women who have abortions compared to women who give birth.
One large-scale study of women’s health records, published in 1996 in the British Medical Journal, found that the suicide rate among women who had undergone abortions in the prior year was three times higher compared to women in the general population and six times higher compared to women who gave birth.
Raisner also claims the pregnancy centers lied to her about infertility being an abortion risk. But several studies suggest that it is a risk, and even Planned Parenthood’s website says abortion risks include “infection and injury to the cervix, uterus or other organs.” These things can lead to infertility.
At another point, her investigation attacks pro-lifers for telling women about the risks of abortion pills and the life-saving abortion pill reversal reversal method, according to Jezebel. “Abortion pills are 99.5% safe and lead to fewer hospitalizations than Tylenol,” the video claims.
Again, the evidence shows otherwise. A 2019 report from the abortion chain MSI Australia shows the complication rate for abortion drugs that year and the previous year was more than 4 percent, more than twice as high as the complication rate for surgical abortions. Another study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute found that the rate of abortion-related emergency room visits by women taking the abortion drug increased more than 500 percent between 2002 and 2015.
What’s more, the abortion pill reversal treatment has proven to be safe and effective, saving at least 4,000 babies thus far.
Afterward, in an interview with Jezebel, she even attacked pro-life organizations for offering financial aid, cribs, diapers, baby blankets and more for free to help families in need.
According to the interview:
Raisner told Jezebel that clinic staff took her driver’s license, her address, and asked about her job and her family and friends. “They very purposely try to identify other people in your life who could supposedly help you raise this baby,” she recalled. After she left the clinic saying she was unsure whether she’d get an abortion, CPC employees followed up several times and asked her to come back. …
“They just want you to give birth, and they’ll say anything for that—they offered me money, gave me baby blankets, they invite the premise that they’ll be supporting me,” Raisner said. But it’s all just words. “It’s clear that that support really stops after that person gives birth.”
It’s clear that her “investigation” was just a “gotcha” attempt to demonize pro-lifers. There was no actual consideration of the evidence or attempts to honestly understand pro-lifers’ motivations. Most pro-life pregnancy centers help women for months or years after their baby’s birth, and everything they offer is free.
Their life-saving work is being attacked by pro-abortion activists because it takes away money from the billion-dollar abortion industry and exposes the lie that abortion activists support women’s “choice.” Pregnancy centers are providing real choices for women, helping them choose life for their unborn babies and, even when they choose abortion, helping them to process and heal afterward.
