Author: Judith Carpenter, MD

Planned Parenthood has become a corrupt big business posing as the face of women’s health and abortion rights. If you still support Planned Parenthood, you have not done your research. People you trust have told you that investigations, or even inspections, are politically motivated and you must look the other way. But the health of women demands our scrutiny, and it doesn’t take much looking to realize how dangerous and bad Planned Parenthood is for women.

It is difficult to summarize the violations found in every Planned Parenthood in every state that actually inspects clinics (some don’t!) As a physician I am appalled by each violation, and certain that if Planned Parenthood were a doctor it would have lost its license long ago due to its “back alley” level low standards. Here are three examples of the most recent inspections of Ohio’s Planned Parenthood clinics.

Bedford Heights– Planned Parenthood: in July, 2014 inspectors found 22 pages of violations including open drug vials, expired drugs and solutions, full urine cups in a cupboard and in the bathroom left for days and never tested, use of expired chemicals and test strips, an unwrapped and extended condom was found in one of the exam table drawers, the freezer that contained aborted baby remains was unmonitored for temperature as required, failure to adhere to standard infection control protocols, failure to conduct competency reviews for abortionists or to employ an experienced Director of Nursing as required, failure to send medical records with a patient transported to the hospital, while medical records for two patients hospitalized after medical emergencies were incomplete and lacked critical information, and a complaint hotline was not posted. http://abortiondocs.org/clinic/surgical/533/bedford-heights-bedford-health-center-planned-parenthood-northeast-ohio/

East Columbus Women’s Center – Planned Parenthood (AKA Central Ohio Women’s Center) Inspectors took a random sampling of medical records and discovered 21 abortion complications, which was by far the most of all Ohio abortion facilities. In April 11, 2013. Planned Parenthood failed an inspection with violations including failure to document the time oral medications were given to six patients, failure to document the time and dosage for IV push medications for one patient, 3,350 doses of controlled drugs, including narcotics were not locked properly, failure to label multi-dose vials and medication syringes, 23 bottles of expired antibiotics, failure to clean an oral suction machine, no TB test done on one employee as required, and patients discharged with nobody accompanying them and no notations as to why that was allowed. http://abortiondocs.org/clinic/surgical/538/

When Planned Parenthood clinics are in states that don’t inspect, we have to count on whistleblowers to find out what goes on behind their closed doors. A Delaware Panned Parenthood came under fire in April, 2013, when two nurses quit and reported on the unsafe and unsanitary conditions there. Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich, described how “ridiculously unsafe” and unsanitary it was and that the abortionist failed to wear gloves. Joyce Vasikonis reported that the instruments were not sterilized and operating tables were not cleaned of blood between cases and was very concerned patients could get AIDS or hepatitis. Both nurses said they quit to protect their medical licenses. While an inspection done in response to the allegations didn’t turn up evidence of the unsanitary conditions, 5 botched abortions in 5 weeks led to a temporary closing and change in staff. Three whistleblowers testified before a bipartisan panel of the Delaware state legislature. The two nurses and one former manager said Planned Parenthood officials knew about improper, dangerous “after hours” abortions being performed by abortionist Eric Schaff without any support medical staff. They reported that Planned Parenthood placed patients in grave danger by assigning medical responsibilities to employees with insufficient or no medical credentials and that the abortionist rushed through abortions at a speed that threatened patient safety. They said Planned Parenthood denied the drug RhoGAM to low-income, Rh negative women who need it within the first 72 hours after an abortion to protect future pregnancies from greatly increased risk of stillbirth. The Planned Parenthood ex-employees also told lawmakers that as many as 200 women were not informed of their positive tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia and 87 women were not informed of the results of their colposcopies. You can watch these 3 prochoice women testify here. 

Delaware now requires accreditation for abortion clinics, but Planned Parenthood continues to fight against any regulations of its clinics.

Planned Parenthood had assets in excess of 1.4 billion at the end of 2014, so there is no excuse for any of these violations.

Conclusion: Nobody you know should go to one of the clinics described, or any Planned Parenthood clinic as far as my research has informed me, for an abortion, or for “healthcare,” if they can possibly avoid it. We should demand better options.

This week Planned Parenthood released a video about consent. Teaching about consent is very important to prevent rape, sexual abuse, STI’s, and unintended pregnancy. I am no dummy and am fully aware that the video and the timing of its release were PR driven and the media graciously changed the headlines for Planned Parenthood while Congress continues hearings into accusations of criminal activity regarding its fetal tissue sale (donation.) Despite the importance of the consent message, and its emphasis that a drunk person cannot give consent, I strongly object to Planned Parenthood as the messenger.

The consent video might convince some that Planned Parenthood is a worthy teacher on the subject. It is not. Behind closed doors, Planned Parenthood sends a very mixed and dangerous message about consent in its sex education counseling. Planned Parenthood manipulates and pressures girls and women to make quick and poorly informed decisions to have abortions. Also, according to recent evidence, Planned Parenthood sometimes ignores patients’ written consent regarding fetal tissue donation (sale).

Behind closed doors Planned Parenthood counselors in multiple clinics in multiple states teach a Live Action investigator posing as an underage girl how to engage in dangerous sex including asphyxiation, being tied to a tree, and painful hitting or pinching that can leave marks. In the video below, one Planned Parenthood counselor teaches the undercover investigator to use a safe word because using words like “stop” when she is uncomfortable “can get mixed up,” resulting in the male partner wondering, “Does she really mean ‘stop,’ or does she mean, you know, whatever?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=34&v=pE1feXDfsyc … No! Stop! This is not ok!

In public Planned Parenthood opposes all regulations on abortion including parental consent for minors, which is required for other medical, surgical, and even dental procedures. Abortions can have serious complications, and complex decisions must be made about whether to have an abortion, and if so, what type of abortion, (medical vs. surgical,) and whether the local facility and abortionist are the best choice. Patients should have all the information and time they need to give informed consent. Yet Planned Parenthood opposes providing patients with ultrasound information and opposes waiting periods during which a patient could consider options or get a second opinion. And behind closed doors, according to Abby Johnson, who was the Director of a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas, “We manipulated people. We coerced them. We LIED to them. “ (https://www.facebook.com/abbyjohnsonprolife?fref=ts.) When abortion-minded patients seek care at crisis pregnancy centers, which Planned Parenthood maligns as “fake clinics,” as many as 90% of them choose not to have an abortion, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/what-these-florida-crisis-pregnancy-clinics-rejoiced-when-their-number-of-s, compared to Planned Parenthood where 94% of their pregnancy services are abortions, which makes one wonder.

More recent evidence of Planned Parenthood’s disturbing record when it comes to understanding consent is in the area of fetal tissue donation. Planned Parenthood has patients sign a consent form to donate fetal tissue that states that there will be no changes to how or when the abortion is done in order to obtain fetal tissue. However, in the following video, and in other Center for Medical Progress videos, there are numerous admissions of changing abortion procedures to obtain intact specimens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzMAycMMXp8. Specifically Melissa Farrell, Director of Research PP Gulf Coast admits at 1:12 that they can alter the abortions to obtain intact fetal cadavers, Dr. Nucatola, Senior Director of Medical Services for PP Federation of America, at 2:11 and 2:42 admits changing abortions to breech under ultrasound guidance and at 4:56 she and others describe how digoxin is omitted to protect the tissue while risking live birth. In another video https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=461&v=ABzFZM73o8M, Holly O’Donnell, an ex- Stem Express procurement technician, now whistleblower, describes at 6:21 how a nurse handed her a specimen even when the patient had refused consent!

We should not consent to Planned Parenthood’s unethical consent procedures. And we should not consent to have Planned Parenthood teach sex education or financially support that endeavor with grants. I will address that further in a coming post.

Yesterday the Senate voted on a bill which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill which should not have involved politics, but science, ethics, and humanity. The vote was clearly political, with 42 Democrats effectively blocking the bill by voting against it, possibly because they consider the Republicans politically motivated any time they attempt to regulate abortion.

“We in this chamber are never going to agree completely on the abortion question. But we should at least be able to agree that if an unborn child has reached the point where he or she can feel pain, that child’s life deserves protection,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Nope-they couldn’t agree.

First, let’s discuss the science regarding when a fetus can feel pain. Sensory receptors in the skin are found as early as 7 weeks and are present throughout the body by 14-16 weeks. Studies have shown a reflex withdrawal (known as pain reflex) from a needle stick as early as 8 weeks and a stress hormone response (which is also interpreted as a pain response in anesthesia research) to needles in the hepatic vein, but not the nerve-free umbilical vein at 18 weeks. There you have it. Even fetuses younger than 20 weeks appear to feel pain and shouldn’t be torn limb from limb if we care about what they feel!

But scientists can disagree, right? I did a lot of research and found what you already know, which is that there will never be a definitive study that shows when a fetus can first feel pain. That’s where ethics and humanity come in to play. Should we be arguing when is the earliest a fetus can feel pain, or when is the latest?

In a frequently cited article, “Fetal Pain: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence,” a 2005 review in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the authors concede that pain receptors are present throughout the unborn child’s entire body by no later than 16 weeks after fertilization and nerves link these receptors to the brain’s thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than 20 weeks post fertilization. They also concede that the application of painful stimuli is associated with significant increases in stress hormones known as the stress response.  Notwithstanding these facts, the authors deny unborn pain at that stage on the assumption that a functioning cerebral cortex is needed.  This despite substantial medical evidence that the thalamus alone is sufficient. More research reveals that  the lead author of the paper was previously employed as a lawyer by NARAL and another author, Dr. Eleanor A. Drey,  performed abortions and was medical director of an abortion clinic.

Ethically, a physician should not inflict pain except to help a patient, and even then anesthesia should be considered. Those who believe in the death penalty at least agree to attempt to make lethal injections as pain- free as possible for criminals. What disturbs me the most is the attempt to argue for the latest stage possible that a fetus could be considered to experience pain for the purpose of justifying late term abortions. Not ethical. Not humane.

The fetal tissue donation debate is extremely relevant to the fetal pain issue. Late term abortions were often preceded by an injection of digoxin to stop the fetal heart, which kills the fetus prior to dismemberment or prior to intact delivery and prevents the possibility of a live birth. But digoxin can cause valuable organs and tissue to be damaged, so in the CMP Planned Parenthood undercover investigation the PP medical director assures the ‘buyer’ that they don’t/won’t use ‘dig.’ So, is it ethical, or humane, to allow the dismemberment or dissection of a fetus that might be (likely is at 20 weeks) capable of feeling pain?  No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

One hundred ‘no’s,’ the number of senators who should have voted to stop the barbaric killing of fetuses (or babies) who might feel pain.

http://www.doctorsonfetalpain.com/answering-the-pain-deniers/#.VgLs1XhN38t

I started writing about Planned Parenthood (PP) a couple months ago after the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) posted its first video about its investigation into the sale of fetal tissue and organs by Planned Parenthood. Usually I avoid political issues on my Facebook page because almost half my friends are on one side of the aisle and about half on the other, with a few wandering the wide gulf between. But this wasn’t a political issue. This was a shocking video showing a high ranking Planned Parenthood medical director talking specifics about doing better than breaking even in the sale of fetal organs, and describing how she changed abortion procedures to improve the quality of the specimens obtained, both of which are felonies. I expected widespread outrage against this corrupt big business,  putting profit before the health of women. But here is what happened…

I saw the first CMP video in my Facebook newsfeed on July 14, 2015. I shared it and started Googling ‘Planned Parenthood’ to find news on the story. Nothing, …for hours. I later posted the full-length video on my Facebook page with this note, “There’s been a media blackout on this so far (to give PP time to respond?) I just read their first response which just attacks the investigators making the film and suggests that all PP does is donate tissue to advance medicine. That’s not what I hear in this video.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=H4UjIM9B9KQ)

I noticed that my Facebook newsfeed seemed to be blocking any posts that included the video link. I could find them on a friend’s page, but not in the newsfeed. I felt manipulated. The news sites waited for Planned Parenthood’s statement, then most parroted the ‘talking points’ in it. By the next morning all the stories had been politicized. Republicans were seen as attacking Planned Parenthood with their plans to investigate the heinous accusations of the CMP videos. The Democrats/Progressives went silent or spouted the PP talking points. There was one article that was posted by a friend, who is a progressive and protector of children through his work with homeless youth, which called on progressives to speak out about the videos because, “As progressives, we further believe that the government plays a crucial role in protecting that dignity, especially among those who face adverse societal conditions: the poor, the unemployed, the uninsured, immigrants, the LGBT community — and yes — pregnant women and their unborn children.”  (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/07/15/opinion-democrats-must-start-speaking-out-about-the-planned-parenthood-video/)

By the next morning my friend’s post of this article had been removed from his page and it seemed the Planned Parenthood story had become perfectly politicized with no ‘purple people’ left to discuss the horrific video evidence which was to follow. So my plan with this blog is to try to speak as a politically neutral ‘purple person’ on this issue. I admit to being a pro-life Democrat, who always believed that Democrats were the strongest voice for the ‘underdogs’ in our society. I just always believed that the unborn fetus (baby) qualified as the ultimate ‘underdog.’ In my extensive research over the past two months, I have discovered many horrors which have led me to believe that Planned Parenthood is a terrible choice for women. I had not heard nearly all of what I will post in this blog at the time it occurred, probably due to biased media coverage. As a trained physician, I am particularly shocked at the rampant health code violations found at almost every PP clinic, at least those that are ever inspected. So I want to begin by warning anybody considering, or who knows anybody considering, getting a procedure or other ‘health care’ at a Planned Parenthood clinic. Go somewhere else! Even if it is less convenient. For your own safety.