OB/GYNs agree “fully formed fetus” in that Planned Parenthood video not from an abortion – here’s why

This weekend I posted about my hypothesis that the 3rd Planned Parenthood video deceptively shot and edited by the Center for Medical Progress did not contain video of a “fully formed fetus” (Carly Fiorina’s words), I believe it is a premature delivery. I reached that conclusion from 25 years of clinical practice in OB/GYN. I decided to ask nine other OB/GYNs what they thought about the clip, meaning I put a lot more effort into getting the facts than the politicians who voted to defund Planned Parenthood. All nine OB/GYNs agree with me. Several are OB/GYns who have done advanced training in family planning and so are experts in the field.

We all agree the video clip is highly unlikely to be from an abortion. We all agree it is likely a premature delivery. We all agree it can’t be from a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Here’s why:

• The cord is clamped.  No one ever clamps the cord in a 2nd trimester abortion. Ever. No one has seen it and no one has even heard of it happening. If you want to see the image where I point out the clamp, click here. I know it disturbs some so I’m not reposting.
• The condition of the skin. Fetal skin is very fragile at 18 weeks, but here it is perfect. There is also no bruising. With 2nd trimester abortions, even when the purpose is to deliver intact (which is rarely the case), there is some instrumentation and this always leaves marks. If this were an induction of labor there is almost always bruising and skin maceration. Inductions are only done for malformations and none are present.
• The gestational age. Likely 18 weeks, maybe 20 weeks. At a Planned Parenthood an abortion at this gestation would be a D & E. Inductions don’t happen at Planned Parenthood.

The evidence suggests this is a premature delivery.  The perfect condition is typical of a rapid but atraumatic delivery, such as cervical incompetence or a second twin.

The video clip was provided by the Center for Bio-Ethical reform. This is what they had to say when questioned about the veracity:

“The video clip we provided to CMP depicted an intact delivery abortion. It was filmed at an abortion clinic. It was not a miscarriage. Mothers don’t go to abortion clinics to miscarry. Had this case been a miscarriage, the mother would have presented at a hospital and her baby would have been rushed to an isolette for appropriate neonatal care — not abandoned to writhe and eventually expire in a cold, stainless steel specimen vessel. As regards the organizational affiliation of the abortion facility in which this termination was performed, our access agreements forbid the disclosure of any information which might tend to identify the relevant clinics or personnel with whom we work. Preserving confidentiality is vital to future clinic access. I can, however, assure you that the footage in question is not anomalous. It is representative of the frequent outcomes of many late term intact delivery terminations performed at clinics of all organizational affiliations.”

So the people who deceptively edited videos and used without permission a picture of a stilbirth and passed it off as an abortion want us to take the word of an organization that cannot say when or where they obtained the video because they are getting videos under false pretenses?

When women deliver prematurely at a very early gestational age a stainless steel basin is often used as this what we have in the operating room and in delivery rooms. We use stainless steel not because we are mean or heartless, but because it can be sterilized for re-use (just like the clamp). Some operating rooms now use disposable plastic, but the video looks like it was converted from analog and so is likely old and steel was ubiquitous for many, many years.

If you want to get maximum shock value and you are not above lying you would use the best looking fetus you can find because you want people like Fiorina to scream about a “fully formed” perfect looking fetus on television. In fact, you dream about that.

And yes some anti-choice activists will say that they just needed a representative image, but if your plan is a “sting” video you actually have to show the supposedly illegal thing you are trying to catch people doing. You can’t say we need to close the beach for shark attacks because you are sure they are happening and then offer a woman with her leg bitten by a dog as proxy.

The purpose of the video clip is to convince people it is part of Holly O’Donnell’s completely unverifiable narrative. If there were true evidence of a crime, the claim of live births being harvested for brains, why not go straight to the authorities? If you are so concerned about “life” wouldn’t you drop everything and call 911?

Ten OB/GYNs who say the clip is likely a premature delivery and not representative of an abortion.