Hearse arrives at Illinois Planned Parenthood to 'pick someone up'

According to the pro-life sidewalk counseling organization Coalition Life, a hearse arrived at the Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Illinois, on October 31. The driver told sidewalk counselors she was there "picking someone up to take them to the funeral home." She later exited Planned Parenthood with a bag.

Key Takeaways:

• On October 31, a hearse arrived at the Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Illinois.

• The driver told sidewalk counselors that she was there "picking someone up to take them to the funeral home."

• The driver later left Planned Parenthood carrying a bag believed to contain a baby aborted late in pregnancy.

• Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Illinois, aborts babies up to 27 weeks.

The Details:

Video recorded by a pro-life sidewalk counselor outside of the Planned Parenthood shows the hearse pulling into the parking lot. The sidewalk counselor introduced herself, and the driver explained, "I'm from a funeral home. I'm picking up someone to take them to the funeral home."

The video shows the driver leaving the facility a short time later, carrying what resembled a gray reusable bag like one used for grocery shopping. Coalition Life believes that inside the bag was likely the body of a baby aborted after 20 weeks.

Hearse Picks Up Aborted Child

The Coalition Life staffer explained, “I was shocked…. The saddest part was that they carried out a deceased child in what looked like a reusable grocery bag.”

Coalition Life staff called Lake View Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens and confirmed that they had picked up an aborted baby from Planned Parenthood on October 31.

"The abortion industry insists this is just 'pregnancy tissue' or a 'clump of cells,'" said Coalition Life. "If there is no child, why did a funeral home come?"

The group added, "Very few aborted children will ride in a hearse and be treated with respect. Most of them will either be flushed down a toilet or thrown out as 'medical waste.'"

If the parents chose to use the services of a funeral home for their baby, it is possible that the baby was aborted later in pregnancy due to a health diagnosis.

Coalition Life believes "The child was likely killed after 20 weeks due to a diagnosed 'fetal abnormality,' which is a reason regularly given by this specific Planned Parenthood location."

The Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood commits abortions via the abortion pill through 12 weeks and surgical abortions up to 27 weeks. Babies born as young as 21 weeks have survived with medical assistance.

Why It Matters:

Babies are often targeted in the womb after they receive a prenatal diagnosis or even the possibility of a diagnosis. Parents are often told that aborting their baby is more compassionate than carrying their baby to term and providing their baby with appropriate medical care, even if that means comfort care until the baby passes away naturally.

Women who have chosen abortion for their “wanted” children due to prenatal diagnoses have described the decision to abort as “heartbreaking,” “gut-wrenching,” and “impossible.” But it is a decision that doesn't have to be made at all. Parents should not be told that their baby is better off dead and pressured into having an abortion.

The abortion expectation: Why are parents of preborn babies with diagnoses always pressured to abort?

In fact, research shows that women who choose abortion after a prenatal diagnosis suffer a greater risk of depression and PTSD than women who carry to term. “Women who terminated [following prenatal diagnosis of a lethal fetal anomaly] reported significantly more despair, avoidance, and depression than women who continued the pregnancy,” said one 2015 study. “There appears to be a psychological benefit to women to continue the pregnancy following a lethal fetal diagnosis.”

Perinatal hospice is available to parents to support them in carrying their children to term.

The Bottom Line:

Rather than pressuring women to abort, doctors should be connecting them with resources and support, not the offer of induced, premature death.