Planned Parenthood opens research and training center in Massachusetts

Planned Parenthood has launched a “first of its kind“ research and training center aimed at dismantling any and all barriers to obtaining an abortion, especially for minors and persons with disabilities. 

Announced in June, the ASPIRE Center, short for Advancing Science and Practice through Innovations in Research and Education, formally launched in early October. An initiative of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM), the center’s mission, according to a Planned Parenthood Action press release, is to expand “education, research, and clinical training” with a focus on “barriers” to obtaining abortions, especially among youth, the disabled, and people of color – even though women of color are already disproportionately targeted by Planned Parenthood, accounting for 38% of all abortions committed — the highest abortion rate of all demographics. 

The center also plans to partner with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School to train more OB/GYNs to commit abortions. 

The abortion giant’s initiative comes in the aftermath of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which reversed Roe v. Wade and returned the question of abortion’s legal status to the states. According to a New York Times tracker, at least 13 states have near-complete protections for preborn babies in the womb, with several other pro-life state laws temporarily blocked, pending adjudication in court. 

READ: Planned Parenthood plans to end more preborn lives with mobile abortion facility

PPLM director and CEO Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak framed the ASPIRE center’s mission as a need to confront the success of pro-life laws and advocacy in states around the country.

“Massachusetts is a strong access state for abortion, and PPLM is the leader in providing abortion care, but with Roe v. Wade overturned, our role in the fight for reproductive freedom and abortion access is much bigger,” said Dr. Childs-Roshak said, according to MassLive.com. “That’s why the time to launch and leverage ASPIRE is now.” In August, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a sweeping codification of abortion. 

According to the press release, the center will also aim to “normalize” abortion and fight against pro-life state laws: “ASPIRE will be able to streamline and expand education efforts in our communities about sexual and reproductive health care, normalize abortion through conversations, and communicate the danger of anti-abortion laws through research.” 

The ASPIRE initiative seeks to continue to advance the false narrative that abortion is “health care,” but the fact remains that an induced abortion – the direct and intentional killing of a preborn baby – is not medically necessary. Framing the misleadingly-named ASPIRE initiative as a noble endeavor belies the reality that Planned Parenthood profits from the violence of abortion — and that pro-life laws directly threaten its bottom line.