Former Planned Parenthood worker: ‘We were told not to say baby’

Planned Parenthood claims to care about women’s health. In their rhetoric, Planned Parenthood officials say abortion empowers women. Planned Parenthood presents itself as being a healthcare provider serving the community and helping women. But the testimony of one former Planned Parenthood worker, Catherine Adair, refutes these claims.

Adair worked in the biggest Planned Parenthood facility in Boston. She shares her testimony in a 2017 book called “Shockwaves: Abortion’s Wider Circle of Victims.” This book focuses on the emotional impact of abortion on women, men, siblings, and others. Adair says:

In reality, a preborn baby is remarkably developed, even in the first trimester. As early as 16 days after conception, a preborn baby’s heart begins to beat. At just six weeks and two days, brain waves can be measured. By 7 ½ weeks, the baby has distinct fingers and toes. By eight weeks, the baby shows preference for either her right or left hand, indicating whether she will be right-handed or left-handed after birth.

Baby Development Week by Week

Women have written about how workers at abortion facilities lied to them about fetal development. In the court case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court struck down a law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. 3,348 post-abortive women submitted an amicus brief in this case, in which many of them told their stories. Many of these women wrote about how the abortion facility lied to them or gave them no information about their preborn babies.

For example, Kathryn Bretz wrote:

A woman named Karen wrote:

Nona Ellington was told her baby was:

According to Adair, it was not unusual for the woman to have very little contact with the doctor performing her abortion. Adair says:

Pro-choice author Cara J. Marianna interviewed post-abortive women for her book “Abortion: A Collective Story.” One of the women she interviewed, identified as Susan, says:

Catherine Adair also described working in the POC room, where the bodies of aborted babies were taken. Workers had to piece together the body parts of each aborted baby to ensure that the whole child had been extracted from the woman’s womb. If any part of the baby was left behind, it could cause an infection.

2nd Trimester Surgical Abortion: Dilation and Evacuation (D & E)

Adair said:

Other abortion workers have also commented on the POC room.

A clinic worker quoted in Abby Johnson’s book, “The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories,” says:

In a 2015 Facebook post, former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson wrote about her time in the POC (“products of conception”) room, dealing with aborted babies:

Johnson says that many former abortion workers suffer with nightmares about piecing together body parts. She also reveals that abortion workers at her facility made the same joke about “Pieces of Children.”

How widespread this “joke” is in the abortion industry is unknown.

Catherine Adair’s testimony, as well as the testimonies of other former abortion workers, show how women are exploited by the abortion industry. Workers’ stories of dismembered body parts also shine a light on the gruesome reality of abortion.

Sources:

Janet Morana Shockwaves: Abortions Wider Circle of Victims (New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 2017) 20 – 21

Cara J. Marianna Abortion: A Collective Story (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002) 35-36

Abby Johnson The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2016) 129