Thirty-two seconds. Thirty-two seconds is how fast the pro-abortion media would like you to believe it takes to end an innocent human life. In an audio recording released by NPR, we all had the hellish opportunity to hear a woman undergoing an abortion procedure inside of a Detroit, Michigan facility. But let me be clear, the audio that was released was heavily edited, and that was incredibly intentional. “The world is a stage,” they say. It appears that is the case when it comes to the reporting done by NPR reporter, Kate Wells.
Of course, the sounds in this audio are not unfamiliar to me. As a former Planned Parenthood director, the whirring of the suction machine, patients moaning in pain and the clanging of cervical dilators are noises I heard on a regular basis. What I found interesting about the audio released, besides the intentionally edited brevity, was the theater performed by all the players: the doctor in the room, the “hand holder” beside the patient and by the reporter herself.
It's natural that when a camera or a recorder is turned on, you would put forward the best version of yourself. Completely normal. We heard that come through loud and clear in this audio recording. The abortion doctor was so warm and friendly with the patient on the table. If I’m honest, the theatrics performed by the doctor were almost as nauseating to me as the sound of the suction machine. At my ministry, And Then There Were None, we have over 625 former abortion workers who can attest to the coldness of the abortion doctors they worked with. They all talk about their callous attitudes towards the women, almost disdain. The physician at our facility used to make inappropriate comments about their genitalia; the look, the smell, whether they shaved or not. I have learned that is not uncommon. There is no interaction with the doctor before an abortion. There are no encouraging remarks during the procedure about how “great” you are doing. It is cold, tense, unfeeling, impersonal, dehumanizing.
Women very, very rarely have anyone to support them during the abortion procedure. A “hand holder” is a nice thought, but not often put into practice. Of course, for the reporter, they had one available. And of course, the hand holder they chose was a black woman. You must keep up the show that they are for “diversity.” Never mind that abortion is the number one killer in the black community. But I digress. Holding someone’s hand while they kill their child is akin to holding someone’s hand while they drown their child. Who would hold your hand and wipe away your tears while you committed such brutality?
Now, this reporter…she gave us the biggest performance of all. She should release the raw, unedited audio of the abortion. Let everyone hear the full weight of abortion. At 11 weeks gestation, a preborn human being is completely formed. In the products of conception lab, at 11 weeks, we would be looking for two arms, two legs, a torso and a head to piece back together. What was carefully edited out in Kate’s audio was the loud suction noises of those body parts being sucked into the cannula. What you didn’t hear was the final sound the doctor waits for: the suction of the head into the cannula. It makes the loudest noise and that’s generally how they know they have gotten all the pieces out of the uterus. Kate wanted you to believe that the powerful suction tube was only in her uterus for 32 seconds. The reality is that the suction part of the abortion takes several minutes. Minutes, where you will hear the patient scream out in pain. But of course, Kate edited that out, too.
Here's what you didn’t hear in that audio. The cries of women who later come to regret their abortion decision. The young woman screaming “NO” and trying to get off the table but being forced against her will to have the abortion anyway, like we heard from Congresswoman Cori Bush. The abortion staff at lunch after a long day of performing abortions, joking about the patients they saw that day. The sounds of ambulance sirens coming to pick up a woman because the abortion doctor perforated her uterus. So much editing.
Kate also failed to mention that the prolife movement is here to help women in need. Abortion is never necessary. No matter what situation a woman is in, there is a life-affirming way to work through it. Our crisis hotline, Loveline.com has worked with over 5000 women to help provide those solutions. You aren’t alone. Don’t allow the abortion industry to edit your story. Let us help you complete it.
Abby Johnson is CEO and Founder of And Then There Were None and author of "Unplanned" and "Fierce Mercy."
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