Planned Parenthood President: ‘There Is No Such Thing as Abortion Up Until Birth’, by Alex Madajian

By Alex Madajian, CNSNews, May 10, 2019

(CNSNews.com) — In response to comments by President Donald Trump that liberals want to expand the practice of late-term abortion and rip babies from the womb “right up until the moment of birth,” Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen said there are no abortions “up until birth.”

As she tweeted on May 8, “I can’t believe I have to say this — but there is no such thing as infanticide in medical care. There is no such thing as abortion up until birth. #EndTheLies, @realDonaldTrump.”

She further tweeted, “President Trump’s real agenda is to ban access to ALL safe, legal abortion. We’re not going to let him get away with lying about families facing the most difficult decision of their lives when something in the pregnancy has gone terribly wrong.”

Dr. Wen did not mention, however, that more than 8,000 late-term abortions (21 weeks or later) occurred in 2015 — the latest data available — as documented by the CDC. Also, the new abortion law in New York, signed by Gov. Cuomo on Jan. 21, allows abortion up to the moment of birth. On a related note, in 2015, the number of late-term abortions in New York City, 1,485, outnumbered the number of homicides in that city – 352.

In Virginia, Del. Kathy Tran (D) tried to introduce legislation nearly identical to that in New York.

On Jan. 28, Virginia Del. Todd Gilbert (R) asked Del. Tran, “Where it’s obvious that a woman is about to give birth. She has physical signs that she is about to give birth. Would that still be a point at which she could request an abortion if she was so-certified — she’s dilating.”

Tran said, “Mr. Chairman, that would be … a decision that the doctor, the physician and the woman would make at that point.”

Gilbert asked again, “I understand that. I’m asking if your bill allows that.”

Tran answered,  “My bill would allow that, yes.”

Two days later, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) was asked how Tran’s proposal would play out in real life. Northam said, “I can tell you exactly what would happen: The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated (if that’s what the mother and family desired), and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother.”

As Virginia Speaker Kirk Cox said, “This bill will allow a mother who is showing physical signs of labor to get an abortion. We are really one small step from New York.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1.3% of abortions in 2015 occurred at or after 21 weeks, which equals 8,296 abortions from the total recorded that year –638,169. (Not all states report their abortions to the CDC.)

Also, the CDC has reported that in some abortions, the baby survives the procedure – but the living child is not always provided with medical assistance and is left to die. Between 2003 and 2014, the CDC recorded 143 cases where an infant was actually born during an abortion procedure.

“However, it is possible that this number (143) underestimates the total number of deaths involving induced termination,” said the CDC. “In some cases, when a vague term such as ‘termination of pregnancy’ was reported as due to a severe congenital anomaly or maternal complication, it was impossible to determine whether the pregnancy terminated spontaneously as the result of the anomaly or complication, or whether the mother elected to terminate because of the anomaly or complication.” (Emphasis added.)

Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Wen made her comment about “no abortions up until birth” in response to remarks made by President Trump at a rally in Florida on May 8.