'DEFUND 250': Planned Parenthood's disturbing deception of women

On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of her founding — but unless Congress votes to continue banning federal Medicaid dollars from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, July 4 will also be the day that America's most prolific killer of preborn children will see those taxpayer dollars once again pouring into its bank accounts.

Planned Parenthood deserves to be permanently defunded — and Live Action News' series, 'DEFUND 250,' plans to remind the public of many reasons why.

Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion chain, but the organization also claims to be a legitimate health care provider. Yet informed consent is one of the foremost ethical principles in health care — and it's one that Planned Parenthood routinely ignores.

Key Takeaways:

• Undercover investigations have caught Planned Parenthood routinely lying to women about abortion procedures and fetal development.

• Real Planned Parenthood patients have also spoken out about the trauma of learning they were lied to.

• Informed consent is both required by law and by the code of medical ethics.

The Details:

Informed consent is required of all health care providers, both legally and ethically. According to Cleveland Clinic, informed consent is necessary for numerous medical procedures, including prior to having surgeries or taking medications/drugs, both of which would apply in the case of abortion. As Cleveland Clinic explained:

In general, you need to give informed consent any time there’s a risk with a test or treatment. That includes physical risks and even privacy risks. Your provider will explain what’s involved so you can decide if you agree. That includes risks to your privacy.

Giving a patient misinformation about a procedure or drug compromises informed consent, depriving them of the ability to understand the risks or truly agreeing to the treatment they are getting. And yet, this is exactly what Planned Parenthood is known to do.

#1: "Only a blob of tissue"

In an Amicus Curiae brief to the Supreme Court, 3,348 post-abortive women told their stories exposing how little information women they received from the abortion industry — including Planned Parenthood — before abortion.

One woman, Julie Enriquez, said:

When I went to Planned Parenthood for the free pregnancy test, the counselor came back in the room with the news that I was indeed pregnant....

She never explained the procedure. She never told me options. It was presented as the only option but the procedure wasn’t explained. After giving me a minute to let it sink in, she asked me when I wanted to come in for my abortion.

As far as I can remember, I received NO information whatsoever about the actual procedure, only about the general anesthetic and the recovery room. I did not receive an ultrasound to ensure it was a viable pregnancy, only a urine test.

Lianne said she was lied to about both fetal development and the risks of the abortion procedure.

... Planned Parenthood staff said it was good to have the abortion early because “it wasn’t a baby yet – only a blob of tissue.” Didn’t inform me of any physical pain, consequences or emotional ramifications. I was not given any information on amount of bleeding, physical pain or other consequences.... had very difficult and long labors with subsequent pregnancies/deliveries. Doctor said this was most likely due to previous abortion.

Rachele Flores likewise said she wasn't told what she was risking:

I was never told what they were going to do to me.... Planned Parenthood told me that my baby was a blob of tissue. They said it was not a baby....

They never told me that I would have scar tissue (adhesions) that would continue to grow on the inside of my body and wrap themselves around my bowels and attach them to my back and that I would have horrific pain from this and have to have two surgeries to remove the scar tissue, which causes more scar tissue.

The doctors told me that I would never be able to have children because my ovaries were severely damaged from the vacuum suction from the abortion doctor suctioning the innocent baby out of my womb.

#2: Former employees admit to the lies

Numerous former Planned Parenthood employees have acknowledged that they had a responsibility to provide informed consent for their patients. Instead, they lied with the hope of selling abortions to vulnerable women.

"[C]linic workers would purposefully avoid providing information on fetal development, what the child looked like, the child’s anatomical development and the pain he or she could feel," Catherine Anthony Adair, a former staffer, said. "I was continuously reminded that when referring to the baby, the appropriate terminology was 'clump of cells' or 'contents of the uterus.'"

La Verne Tolbert, a former Planned Parenthood-New York City board member, agreed, saying:

"[Planned Parenthood clinics] do not present all of the options, side effects, or consequences of having an abortion; … she [the client] is assured that the ‘wart, cyst, or tissue,’ is easy to remove… Neither is she warned of the emotional or physical side effects of the procedure."

#3: "As easy as taking a Tylenol"

Elizabeth Gillette wrote an op-ed about her horrific experience with undergoing a chemical abortion at Planned Parenthood. She said she was told nothing about the risks involved, or how painful the experience would be. Gillette also was not warned that she could see the body of her baby, instead told it would just be heavy blood clots, like on her period.

... I bled profusely, pools of blood down my legs and on to the floor. Pain relievers and heating packs did nothing to ease the pain. My body shook violently. I suffered nausea and diarrhea and was sweating uncontrollably.

Then, I passed the amniotic sac with my tiny child inside.

I was shocked and traumatized. They had said all I would see would be blood clots like a heavy period. No one had warned me that I would see my recognizable baby.

... I held the sac, not knowing what to do with my tiny baby....

... [T]he doctors and medical professionals at Planned Parenthood lied to me.

#4: "That is not a baby"

In an undercover Live Action investigation, Planned Parenthood was found perpetuating misinformation about fetal development. In one video, the woman asked if her preborn baby had a heartbeat... and the Planned Parenthood staffer lied.

“Heart tones are at seven weeks,” the Planned Parenthood staffer said. “Heart beat is when the fetus is active in the uterus, can survive, which is about 17 or 18 weeks. That is not a baby. A baby is what’s born at 40 weeks. A fetus is what’s in your uterus right now.”

“So when does it become a baby?” the woman asked, to which the staffer answered, "Birth."

There are numerous videos in this investigation series, all of which expose lies from Planned Parenthood about fetal development.

Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

#5: "No legs, no arms, no brain, no heart"

In another Live Action video, a Planned Parenthood staffer lied to a woman who was between six and eight weeks pregnant. She was advised to have a chemical abortion, and the staffer said she would "miscarry" at home... but that there was nothing to see, because there was no baby.

"There's not a baby at this point," the staffer said. "You wouldn't be able to identify any parts of the fetus whatsoever... [t]he fetus is the developing embryo inside of you. But there's — at this point, there's nothing developed at all. There's no legs, no arms, no brain, no heart."

Planned Parenthood deceptive, manipulative abortion SALES PITCH

This is patently false; at this point in a pregnancy, the baby’s heart has been beating and pumping blood since 21-22 days (three weeks) post-fertilization. By five weeks post-fertilization, the baby has eyes, arm buds, and legs, despite what Planned Parenthood claimed. 

And as explained by the Endowment for Human Development (EHD), at eight weeks (or six weeks post-fertilization), brain wave activity has already begun, along with embryonic movement.

#6: Like a "heavy period"

Christina took an abortion drug when she got pregnant for the second time, and the process was traumatizing. Planned Parenthood staff lied to her about the humanity of her baby and downplayed how difficult the abortion procedure would be.

"She told me that the process would be pretty easy and that I wouldn't see anything," she began. "They didn't ever use the word baby. They always just said 'it' or 'tissue' or 'the process.' They never said anything about the level of development. They did tell me it would be too small to see anything."

 But instead, seeing the body of her child still gives her nightmares:

... It was worse than labor with my son. Within two hours of taking the second set of pills, I had the baby in the toilet.

When I turned around, there it was, in the sac and everything. I broke open the sac and held the helpless little baby in my hand. I cried and felt like I had just murdered someone so innocent.

Planned Parenthood staff never told her what her baby would look like at nine weeks, or how much shame and regret she would feel.

My Abortion Pill Story - Christina - I Saw My Baby

#7: "The ENTIRE time I was there I was told LIES"

A woman named Nelle spoke about her experience with Planned Parenthood when she had her second abortion. The first time, she had a surgical procedure, but the second time, she was given abortion pills. She was six weeks pregnant.

“The ENTIRE time I was there I was told LIES!" she began. "They said, ‘There are no real risks, this is like a period, light cramping, it’ll all be over within 2 days.'”

Nelle said Planned Parenthood staffers didn't go over the full packet of information about the abortion pill, but she read it on her own later and realized she could bleed for weeks.

No one actually says that you BLEED FOR WEEKS! NO ONE!... I had asked multiple nurses and they assured me it would all be clear within a few days!

Anyway, it hurt like crazy and I have never been more nauseated and in pain in my life. I was a sweaty, bloody, crying mess. The cramping was pretty bad for me but it was the fact of feeling the chunks fall out of you. I sat on the toilet and eventually put on a maxi pad and sat on the couch. It was about 3-4 hours of cramping until it came out.

Nelle eventually gave birth to the body of her baby, still in the amniotic sac, and she said the experience was worse than her surgical abortion. In her instance, the abortion itself didn't cause any regret, but she still felt lied to by Planned Parenthood.

"I truly believe Planned Parenthood tricks young girls into getting these type [sic] of abortions solely to keep them running," she concluded. "They assure you there is literally zero risk and that it is quick, private, and like a period. Which is all a lie!"

#8: "Why hadn't anyone told me?"

Kay was married when she got pregnant for the second time due to the side effect of an antibiotic while on birth control; she undergone a previous surgical abortion and considered herself "pro-choice." Yet she said Planned Parenthood lied to her about how bad the abortion pill regimen would be, and dissuaded her from asking questions.

During her appointment, she was shown a 10-minute video, and when she tried to ask more questions, the abortionist ignored her. “Don’t be so anal about this," he said. "The hardest part, getting here, is over. Just follow the directions on the printout.  All the information you need is there.”

In addition to the abortion pills, she was given hydrocodone for pain and phenergan for nausea. They gave her an emergency number to call; her husband dialed it multiple times.

Within 15 minutes of the capsules dissolving, I felt heavy pressure in my lower abdomen and uncontrollable cramping. I was in so much pain I nearly fainted.

Tears streaming down my face I called my husband back and told him I was dying. I told him to come home as fast as possible and I hung up.

This pain was unimaginable. Indescribable. It was the worst pain I have ever felt. With every cramp, I felt my heart race and my blood pressure plummet.

I felt nauseated, dizzy, and light-headed. By the time my husband arrived home a few minutes later, the water in the tub was colored red by blood and our dog was barking like mad in-between my screams.

Only then, when her husband called the emergency number, were they told taking a bath could cause life-threatening infection.

The hydrocodone failed to lessen her pain, and after several hours, a "lemon-sized" clot of blood came out, which she assumed was her baby. "Why hadn’t anyone told me that it would be like this?!" she wrote.

Planned Parenthood staffers repeatedly told her the experience was normal and not to go to the hospital, even though she continued bleeding heavily for five weeks.

#9: "A little blob of jelly"

Lorijo Nerad wrote about her abortion at the age of 18 in 1985; there was no counseling beforehand, and no discussion of prenatal development. Nerad was three months pregnant, meaning her baby had a beating heart, arms and legs, could move, and could even suck her own thumb.

I was given a pamphlet that showed a drawing of a little blob of jelly inside of a womb and I thought, “Oh great, that’s what it looks like. I’ll go for that.” They didn’t inform me of the development of the child, and there was no discussion about the emotional or psychological problems.

The abortion was committed with no anesthesia, and Nerad said she laid on the table crying while it happened. But the worst was yet to come.

Two weeks later I was in severe pain, just horrible. I went to the bathroom and there, in the toilet paper in my hand was my baby’s head — a little bit smaller than a golf ball and all black and tarry. They hadn’t removed it during the abortion. I called the doctor, and he said it was normal, throw it away, no big deal.

Yet Nerad had been led to believe that what was inside of her was nothing more than a blob of goo.

#10: "How can a blob of tissue feel pain?"

Tommie said she was coerced into abortion by her abusive husband. And like many other women, she was lied to by the Planned Parenthood staffer.

"I asked her if it was a baby," Tommie recalled. "She laughed and said it was just a blob of tissue. I then asked if it would feel any pain. She asked, 'How can a blob of tissue feel pain?'”

Her baby was not a blob of tissue, and it has become increasingly clear that preborn children likely feel pain as early as the end of the first trimester.

The Bottom Line:

Taxpayers should not be forced to continue funding an organization which lies to women about the risks of abortion and the humanity of their preborn children.