Planned Parenthood recently released an advertisement in favor of waiting periods. The ad, perhaps inadvertently, proves that waiting period laws save lives.
Waiting periods ensure women consider all their options and the risks involved in having an abortion, not to mention the life of the baby inside them. Twenty-seven states have made waiting periods laws, often 24 hours, and as Planned Parenthood now admits, those laws are beneficial to women.
After Tennessee became the 27th state to pass a law requiring a waiting period, OB-GYN Dr. Brent Boles was quoted as saying:
“The waiting period is designed to protect women from unscrupulous providers who might prey on women when they are vulnerable.
“A provider could take advantage of a woman in that situation and talk her into a quick procedure — for which the provider would be compensated.
“Women who have an unintended pregnancy are just as vulnerable as women who have just finished a difficult delivery. If a 30-day waiting period is appropriate for women who wish to end their fertility, then a 48-hour waiting period before ending a pregnancy cannot be legitimately said to be overly burdensome.” (Emphasis mine)
I’m sure Planned Parenthood did not intend to support waiting period laws, since they oppose them whenever they are introduced in state legislation, but there is no question their new ad is a great tool for those advocating for them. Here’s a direct quote from their website, referring to waiting periods as “a dangerous requirement” and an “attack on women’s health”:
“Attempts to restrict and even ban abortion at the state level are part of an ongoing effort to deny women their right to make their own personal medical decisions. … Already state legislatures have passed or proposed many dangerous requirements. Some of the unprecedented attacks on women’s access to abortion include: Mandatory ultrasounds and waiting periods, and requirements to attend biased counseling before a woman can get an abortion.” (Emphasis mine)
But just look at how happy the mother in the ad is after she reconsidered the life within her.
In the ad, the heartfelt mother says she “was a wreck” when she entered a Planned Parenthood clinic with her unplanned and unborn child. The nurse tending to her noticed, had compassion, and encouraged her to go home, “sleep on it and reschedule.” While the nurse assumed she would have the abortion another day, the waiting period changed the mother’s mind. She went home and decided to keep her baby.
Planned Parenthood describes waiting periods as harmful, yet by their own ad’s admission, waiting periods save lives. Women shouldn’t be dependent on a good-natured nurse to advise them to take time to carefully consider this life-changing choice.
Even before the American people elected a pro-life president last November, Planned Parenthood was already feeling the pressure after they were exposed for selling baby body parts in 2015. This led to Congress investigating them, resulting in 15 criminal and regulatory referrals to the Department of Justice.
Now we’re seeing them stoop to new levels as they attempt to pander to the American people by deceiving them with a “positive spin” ad that not only isn’t a standard in their clinics, but is actually something they oppose.
Their ad seems to make the pitiful plea, “Come on guys, we don’t kill ALL the babies …” or as @FBillMcMorris puts it, “See, we let one live.”
Not only that, but they’re being exposed for continually suggesting that Planned Parenthood provides services that not all Planned Parenthood clinics provide.
Below the list of state restrictions on Planned Parenthood’s website, it says, “And for women facing unintended pregnancies, prompt access to safe, legal abortion is imperative.” (Emphasis mine)
Having an abortion promptly would ensure their patients don’t have time to change their minds after emotionally and mentally processing the decision they are about to make. Had the woman in the ad not been visibly distressed, Planned Parenthood would have happily ended the life of her baby, robbing her forever of the joy she is now experiencing.
The mother in the ad is thanking Planned Parenthood. But she’s not thanking them for their “great health care” or for helping her “get her life back” by terminating her pregnancy. Instead, she’s thanking them for not doing what they do best, taking the life of babies.
Janae Stracke serves as Communications Coordinator at Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. A version of this article was published by CNS News. Read it there.