Planned Parenthood’s history of failing to obtain informed consent from women

For years, Planned Parenthood has claimed that it is some women’s only option for health care, and that without the nearly $700 million it receives from the federal government, those women would suffer. It’s completely untrue, as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) outnumber Planned Parenthood centers 25 to 1, and serve over 10 times as many women as Planned Parenthood (and do not offer abortion). But one of Planned Parenthood’s best-kept secrets is how little it actually cares about women’s informed consent.

In 2021, Americans United for Life released its UNSAFE report documenting health code violations at abortion facilities, including 27 Planned Parenthood facilities that had been found to be in violation of informed consent laws. The report revealed that these facilities either failed to obtain required informed consent at the required time, failed to have the appropriate licensed staff member obtain the required informed consent, failed to post or provide patients with contact information for complaint hotlines, or failed to post the facility’s license information in a place where patients could easily see it.

One example from 2017, as previously reported by Live Action News, was of a woman who underwent an abortion in Texas. The law at the time required Planned Parenthood to show her the ultrasound images of her baby, point out the baby’s body parts, such as arms and legs, and allow her to hear the baby’s heartbeat. But when the woman asked to see the ultrasound image, the staff showed her an image of the top of her 16-week baby’s head only — making it appear as if her baby was a mere round blob.

Another example is from a report by the Missouri Department of Health which found that in 2019, a woman underwent a botched surgical abortion at 10 weeks at a Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. When she had to return for a second attempt, she was not provided with informed consent, even though the five-week time gap resulted in her baby being further developed, as well as an increased risk to her in undergoing the procedure.

Planned Parenthood has even failed to provide informed consent to non-abortion patients. A 21-year-old woman is suing Planned Parenthood, her surgeon, and mental health counselors for failing to provide her with proper medical guidance before she was pushed into so-called “gender-affirming care.”

Neither the brief informed consent form provided to Christina Hineman nor the staff mentioned the “numerous known risks and side effects of testosterone injections for girls or women, including, but not limited to: vaginal atrophy, vocal pain or damage, possible changes to sexual orientation, emotional lability, anger or emotional expressions, changes to bone density and structure (e.g., over-broadening of the shoulders, altering pelvic development, etc.), facial masculinization, and development of permanent masculine features, such as an Adam’s apple,” notes the lawsuit.

Planned Parnethood also failed to inform Hineman that cross-sex hormones for gender dysphoria are not FDA-approved and using them for gender dysphoria is an off-label use of drugs. “Defendants utterly failed to obtain informed consent,” the lawsuit says.

Planned Parenthood has a history of outright lying to women or hiding the truth. It does not deserve taxpayer funding.