Ever the intellectually challenging publication, BuzzFeed recently published a pro-abortion puff piece featuring no less than 41 (41!) “things you should know about abortions and the doctors who perform them.”
That sure seems like an awful lot of “things” — especially since all anyone really should need to know about abortion is that it violently extinguishes the lives of human beings — but when you’re trying to avoid the gruesome reality of abortion, then sure, why not come up with “41 things” you think everyone needs to know?
Photo via Operation Rescue
BuzzFeed begins by saying it “reached out to abortion providers across the country to find out what they wish people understood about the job, the procedure, and the women they treat.” It says it got “perspectives… from 11 physicians (some of whom asked to remain anonymous)….” So right off the bat, you know this article is going to be wholly one-sided — which is why I’d like to address some (but not all) of those 41 points made.
First of all, however, I must note that one of the abortionists BuzzFeed Health interviewed was Lisa Perriera, who is listed as an OB/GYN at the Philadelphia Women’s Center. But what BuzzFeed doesn’t tell you about Perriera is that she killed a patient a few years ago. That’s correct — the doctor who is quoted by BuzzFeed as saying she provides a way of “safely terminating pregnancies” killed Lakisha Wilson at Preterm in Cleveland, Ohio, where Perriera worked in 2014, after Perriera continued to abort Wilson’s baby despite her patient’s rapidly dropping blood pressure and hemorrhaging. Hey, way to go, BuzzFeed! It’s point #1 and you’re already doing great!
Ok, on to the ‘best’ of those 41 points from BuzzFeed Health:
“2. Abortion providers don’t feel like they’re on the fringes of the medical community.”
BuzzFeed quotes an abortionist who says he (or she) was drawn to abortion because of “professionalism” and “medical ethics.” But I guess BF didn’t talk to anyone else, because in a past interview with multiple abortionists, reporter Jack Hitt found that the stigma against abortionists is strong in the medical community, as they are viewed as “grade-B doctors” who don’t have enough skill to make it in any real medical practice. Other abortionists have called their profession “the dark side of medicine” and have admitted that abortionists are viewed as “the lowest of the low.” The word many abortionists seem to use to describe how they are viewed is “dirty.”
“4. Patients should expect to be treated with kindness and compassion when they come in for this procedure.”
Unless you visit this abortionist. Or these abortionists. Or these. Or this one. Or this abortion facility. Or these. Or this one. You get the idea. Even former Planned Parenthood employees admit that women are “treated like cattle” by the abortion industry:
“6. Legal abortions are safe and do not affect your ability to get pregnant in the future.”
They totally don’t affect your future fertility… unless you count a “60 percent greater chance of miscarrying future pregnancies and a significantly increased risk of ectopic pregnancies, infertility, hysterectomies, stillbirths, miscarriages, and premature births.” Multiple studies have found links between abortion and future miscarriages. Another study found a link between abortion and preterm birth. So while BuzzFeed’s abortionists may say abortion doesn’t affect your ability to “get pregnant in the future,” the problem is that abortion puts any future children — and you, expectant moms — at greater risk.
“8. The vast majority of abortions occur in the first trimester.”
This is true. But do the vast majority of women having those abortions in the first trimester recognize that their children likely already have beating hearts, fingernails, brain waves, reactions to stimuli, and organs that are all in place by eight weeks? First trimester human beings are no less human (with their own, unique DNA) than those in later trimesters. BuzzFeed, are you going to tell women about those things? Because abortionists sure won’t.
“9. The phrase ‘partial-birth abortion’ isn’t actually a medical term used to describe abortions.”
This one would have made me laugh if it weren’t so tragic. So… because “partial-birth abortion” isn’t a “medical term,” then it’s not real, and that somehow invalidates the reality of this barbaric procedure? Hey, BuzzFeed: If abortionists are delivering the preborn baby breech, and then bringing the baby into the birth canal, and just before the baby has fully emerged, are inserting a sharp instrument and suctioning out the baby’s brain, collapsing his skull, then I really don’t think the “medical term” matters all that much. The baby is partially birthed and then killed — hence the reason why it’s referred to in laymen’s terms as a “partial-birth abortion” instead of a “D&X” or “intact D&E.” Others have tried to make this lame argument before and failed. Come on, BuzzFeed. Really?
Partial-birth abortion
“10. Surgical abortions aren’t technically surgeries — they require no incisions or sutures — and they usually last around 10 to 15 minutes.”
In a nutshell, telling women abortion isn’t really “surgery” is just another way to make them think abortion is no big deal. Newsflash: just because there aren’t incisions or sutures doesn’t mean it’s not a surgery. A D&C (dilation and curettage) — something WebMD describes as a “brief surgical procedure in which the cervix is dilated and a special instrument is used to scrape the uterine lining,” actually “involves no stitches or cuts,” either, says the trusted medical website.
“11. They want people to understand what actually happens during an abortion.”
Oh, yeah, abortionists are all about giving women information. Whether it’s accurate or not is another story. If they’re lucky, an abortionist’s “helpful” explanation of abortion may acknowledge the presence of a “fetus,” but usually, women should expect to hear the preborn child that’s being suctioned out — or dismembered and then suctioned out — referred to as “the pregnancy.” Really informative, huh, BuzzFeed? Here’s something much more educational:
“13. They don’t see their job as convincing anyone to have an abortion; they simply give them the information they need to make a decision.”
A Tennessee Planned Parenthood abortionist actually responded to this one for BuzzFeed, which is ironic, considering Planned Parenthood has been accused by so many, many women of having coerced them into abortions using various fear-based tactics. Is this in any way giving women “the information they need”?
“15. [Abortionists] don’t all work at Planned Parenthood.”
No, they don’t. But Planned Parenthood is THE largest chain of abortion providers in the country, committing more than a third of all abortions every year. Trying to downplay this fact by saying “not all abortionists work at Planned Parenthood” is just that… an attempt to downplay Planned Parenthood’s abortion business.
“22. You probably know someone who’s had an abortion.”
Here, BuzzFeed quotes an abortionist who claims, “One in three women has had an abortion in America.” This statistic has been debunked — even by the Washington Post, which gave the claim Four Pinocchios — yet it keeps turning up over and over… like a bad penny.
“29. The protesters outside the clinics don’t make women change their minds, they just make them feel more guilt and self-blame.”
So says Lisa Perriera, the abortionist mentioned in point #1 who is responsible for the death of one of those women who did not change her mind, and who sadly lost her own life.
Question: if you were a person who profited from abortion, would you want people standing on the sidewalks outside your business, offering other options to women in vulnerable situations?
Contrary to what Perriera claims, there are literally thousands of women who change their minds thanks to the presence of peaceful, prayerful sidewalk counselors. Claiming that “protesters” don’t make any difference might convince people on your side, Ms. Perriera, but pro-lifers know the truth: babies are saved this way.
“30. Abortions are not federally funded. Most women pay out of pocket or use their insurance.”
While part of this may be true — that most women pay out of pocket or use insurance for their abortions — the first half is not accurate. Taxpayers fund abortion in several ways.
“35. [Abortionists] think the concept that people will use abortions as birth control is pretty ridiculous.”
Well, these abortionists must be unaware of CDC research that shows otherwise.
In 2013, Chuck Donovan of the Charlotte Lozier Institute wrote a piece in the New York Times which stated that “the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 44 percent of [the nation’s 1.2 million abortions annually] were repeat abortions, and 1 in 5 represent a third or even higher order abortion.” I guess abortionists aren’t up on the CDC’s statistics. Beyond that, Guttmacher statistics show that “46 percent of women [having abortions] had not used a contraceptive method in the month they conceived.”
Those who read BuzzFeed Health’s piece quoting only abortionists and no one from the pro-life perspective can expect to receive a very one-sided view of what abortion is. They can also expect a one-sided view of the people who choose to devote their lives to the killing of innocent children for profit under the guise of helping women.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the media’s coverage of abortion, expecting anything different is likely to lead to disappointment.
