{"id":214086,"date":"2019-11-23T12:07:36","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T18:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=214086"},"modified":"2019-11-22T16:35:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T22:35:20","slug":"admitting-privilieges-not-lie-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/admitting-privilieges-not-lie-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Admitting privileges are not ‘based on a lie.’ They’re needed due to the abortion industry’s abuses."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 2014 Louisiana pro-life law<\/a> that requires abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges has long been contested by pro-abortion groups. In January 2019, the Fifth Circuit upheld the law in a 2-1 decision, yet it is now before the Supreme Court<\/a> on appeal. Facing a potentially momentous Supreme Court decision, pro-abortion activists in the media have been working overtime to shape the narrative<\/a> about the law with disinformation and outright deceptions.<\/p>\n

Most recently, HuffPost published a piece by Lydia O\u2019Connor<\/a>, claiming that a 2014 Louisiana pro-life law requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges is \u201cbased on a lie.\u201d Yet her article offers nothing more than flawed arguments and appeals to dubious sources.<\/p>\n

Problematic sources<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

To support her claim, O\u2019Connor heavily cites the opinions of an abortionist with a vested interest in the case\u2019s outcome:\u00a0Dr. Bhavik Kumar<\/a>. O\u2019Connor paraphrased the abortionist, writing, \u201c[C]omplications are almost always manageable in a clinic, Kumar said, and in the rare instances that they aren\u2019t, patients would be admitted to a hospital for emergency care with or without a law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not only does Kumar, as an abortionist, have a clearly biased stance on the issue, but — as even O\u2019Connor notes — he is medical director for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, the operator of two abortion facilities in Louisiana which would be threatened under the law. And Kumar\u2019s association with Whole Woman\u2019s Health<\/a> makes him even less credible as a voice for the interests of women. As Live Action News has shown, the notoriously dangerous abortion facility chain in Texas has been cited over a dozen times in 2018 alone<\/a> for a variety of serious sanitation, health, record-keeping, personnel, procedural, and overall safety deficiencies. Kumar\u2019s Austin location, in particular, was cited for failure to ensure a safe and sanitary environment, as well as failure to protect the health and safety of staff, to implement and enforce written policies governing the facility\u2019s operation, and failure to provide a patient with the name and telephone of the nearest hospital in case of emergency.<\/p>\n

READ: 32 medical societies support admitting privileges \u2013 so why are abortion advocates fighting them?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor also cites a study<\/a> by the National Academies to support her argument against the Louisiana law. She asserts the study \u201cfound \u2018no evidence indicating that clinicians that perform abortions require hospital privileges to ensure a safe outcome for the patient.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Yet the National Academies study\u2019s six financiers all \u2014 without exception \u2014 are pro-abortion foundations with deep ties and vested interest in the legalized abortion industry. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, as Live Action News has shown (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), have invested heavily in a wide range of pro-abortion initiatives. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation has given more than a billion dollars<\/a> to various pro-abortion groups. The JPB Foundation has donated millions to Planned Parenthood<\/a> in recent years. The Tara Foundation aggressively pushes<\/a> for expansion of abortion access, as Live Action News has reported<\/a>. And the Grove Foundation not only funds Planned Parenthood, but has close ties<\/a> to abortion trainers and industry insiders.<\/p>\n

Ignoring the risks to women does not make abortion safer<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even more than using deeply biased sources, the substance of O\u2019Connor\u2019s arguments is flawed. She claims that Louisiana\u2019s admitting privileges requirement is \u201cbased on the falsehood that abortion is a dangerous procedure.\u201d The overall thrust of the article is that abortion has no serious risks, and certainly none that cannot easily be managed by an abortion facility. Thus, in O\u2019Connor\u2019s narrative, pro-life attempts to require abortionists to have admitting privileges are absurd and just an attempt to restrict a \u201csafe\u201d procedure.<\/p>\n

The tragic reality is that women\u2019s lives are indeed endangered at the hands of abortionists — a fact that journalists like O\u2019Connor in the media almost never report. The risks and potential complications<\/a> of abortion are real, and real women suffer every year from serious complications, including, as Live Action News has reported<\/a>, women who have died at the hands of abortionists while undergoing legal abortions. The list includes Keisha Atkins<\/a>, Lakisha Wilson<\/a>, Tonya Reaves<\/a>, Cree Sheppard<\/a>, Jennifer Morbelli<\/a>, Christin Gilbert<\/a>, Jamie Lee Morales<\/a>, and countless more.<\/p>\n

READ: OBGYN describes abortion complications, urges admitting privileges for abortionists<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n