New videos in undercover investigation reveal ultrasounds at Planned Parenthood aren’t available to women wanting to keep their babies
Washington, D.C. (January 31, 2017) – Today, Live Action released two new investigative videos that show Planned Parenthood has ultrasound technology available for abortions, but not for women who want to continue their pregnancies and check the health of their babies.
“Ultrasounds for Killing, Not Care at Planned Parenthood” and “Planned Parenthood Managers: Ultrasounds for Abortions, Not Health Care” are two new videos in Live Action’s “Abortion Corporation” investigation highlighting Planned Parenthood’s lack of resources for pregnant women other than abortion. Last week’s video, “The Prenatal Care Deception,”has garnered more than 14 million views on Facebook in less than a week.
Live Action is releasing the investigative series as Congress and the president plan to redirect over $400 million in Medicaid funding away from Planned Parenthood to thousands of federally qualified local health clinics and also as the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act makes its way to the Senate.
Planned Parenthood uses ultrasounds to determine a baby’s age and position in the womb before it kills her. In the “Ultrasounds for Killing, Not Care” video, investigators posing as pregnant women asked 68 Planned Parenthood facilities for ultrasounds to check the health of their babies, but only three centers would provide them. The remainder either used ultrasounds for abortions or did not perform ultrasounds at all. Investigators received responses like:
“No, we don’t do any ultrasounds for prenatal care. We do them when we’re doing abortions, but not for any other reason.” – Council Bluffs, IA, Planned Parenthood
“No. Nope. Not – not something we offer. Well, we do have to do an ultrasound with an abortion, but we don’t offer them for – we can’t do anything to make sure that the pregnancy’s fine.” – St. Louis, MO, Planned Parenthood
“We only do ultrasounds if you are terminating.” – Corning, NY, Planned Parenthood
“One would think a corporation that constantly touts its care for women, uses ‘parenthood’ in its name, and has ultrasound machines would want to ensure healthy pregnancies by allowing women to access ultrasounds to monitor the development of their babies,” said Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action. “But showing a woman an ultrasound image would reveal the beating heart as well as moving arms and kicking legs, destroying the ‘clump of cells’ myth Planned Parenthood perpetuates to try to make abortion easier to accept.”
Investigators’ observations were confirmed by Sue Thayer, a former Planned Parenthood manager in Storm Lake, IA. “If Planned Parenthood is really about choice, they would show women the ultrasound. And they don’t,” she told Rose in an interview in the “Planned Parenthood Managers: Ultrasounds for Abortions, Not Health Care” video. She said that Planned Parenthood won’t show pregnant mothers the ultrasound pictures of their babies, and in fact, “They turn the monitor away so the mom can’t see it.”
Live Action is investing $500,000 in a digital ad campaign to push the video series out to millions of Americans. Future videos will further expose Planned Parenthood’s lack of health care services and include the testimonies of former Planned Parenthood workers and managers.
“Ultrasounds for Killing, Not Care at Planned Parenthood” undercover video: https://youtu.be/_WXjoqbStEM
“Planned Parenthood Managers: Ultrasounds for Abortions, Not Health Care” interview video: https://youtu.be/6KnLSN_5loE
A challenge from Lila Rose
“I anticipate Planned Parenthood will respond as it usually does by denying the findings of this investigation,” said Rose. “That’s why I encourage media outlets to contact any of the 68 centers that Live Action did – or any others – and ask them if they offer ultrasounds to check the baby’s health if a mother wants to carry her baby to term. The media will find results similar to ours.
“We know that Planned Parenthood lies repeatedly and misleads the public, as it did during Live Action’s 2011 child sex trafficking exposé. Two weeks ago, Live Action released public records that show Planned Parenthood failed to report child sex traffickers to local authorities as it had claimed. Planned Parenthood also lied about retraining thousands of its staff to identify and report sex traffickers. Instead, a former manager says the sessions were used to train staff how to identify undercover journalists. ”
About Lila Rose and Live Action
Lila Rose is the president and founder of Live Action. Over the last decade, she has been responsible for undercover investigations that exposed Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry providing sex-selective abortions, covering up the sexual abuse of minors and child sex trafficking, accepting racially motivated donations, disseminating medical misinformation, and participating in other abuses of women and children. Live Action has one of the largest grassroots bases in the pro-life movement and reaches 15-25 million people online every month.
