Pro-Life Page

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/20/14 10:33 AM

News reports out today indicate the Christian woman sentenced to death in Sudan for rejecting Islam is being shackled by Sudanese officials despite the fact she is eight-months pregnant. The Islamic court is waiting until Meriam Ibrahim, 26, gives birth before carrying out the sentence but she is reportedly held in chains until then.

Ibrahim’s husband, U.S. citizen Daniel Wani, a Christian, tells CNN that she has been spending her days bound with shackles on her legs. He was able to visit his wife for the first time in prison yesterday.

“He originally was not allowed to see her until this week,” Tina Ramirez, executive director of Hardwired, a U.S.-based advocacy group against religious persecution, told FoxNews.com. “Once he was able to, she was shackled and her legs were swollen.”

Ramirez added that Ibrahim’s attorney is working on an appeal as international outrage over her persecution grows.

In addition, a statement from several attorneys associated with the Sudanese high court was released Monday, calling for an appeal of Ibrahim’s death sentence.

“The [Sudanese] government is afraid of the international attention,” Ramirez said. “They are paying attention and this [statement] is a sign of that.”

Ibrahim and Wani were married in a formal ceremony in 2011 and have an 18-month-old son, Martin, who is with her in jail. The couple operates several businesses, including a farm, south of Khartoum, the country’s capital.

Wani fled to the United States as a child to escape the civil war in southern Sudan, but later returned. He is not permitted to have custody of his son because the boy is considered Muslim and cannot be raised by a Christian man.

Ibrahim was convicted under the Islamist-run government of apostasy (the crime of renouncing or insulting Islam) punishable by death in some Muslim-majority countries.  According to news reports, lawyers representing her told Amnesty International that religious clerics in court had asked the 27-year-old Thursday if she would recant her faith, but she told them: “I am a Christian.”

Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she refused to recant her Christian faith.

The death sentence issued to a woman who refused to renounce Christianity for Islam in Sudan is an “egregious violation of basic human rights,” Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees U.S. policy in Africa, said previously.

“This is an affront to religious freedom everywhere,” Smith said. “The refusal of the government of Sudan to allow religious freedom was one of the reasons for Sudan’s long civil war. The U.S. and the rest of the international community must demand Sudan reverse this sentence immediately.”

“Mrs. Ibrahim’s willingness to stand-up for her faith—even in the face of death—is a true mark of uncommon courage and bravery,” Smith said. “This case in Sudan mirrors a similar incident 18 months ago in Nigeria in which Boko Haram shot Habila Adamu, who refused to renounce Christianity just like Mrs. Ibrahim.”

Adamu, shot in the head and left for dead, was the only adult male Christian in his village to survive that November 2012 attack. He lived to travel to Washington to give riveting testimony before a congressional hearing Smith held in November 2013: “They asked me, ‘Are you ready to die as a Christian?’ he testified, “and I told them, ‘I am ready,’ but before I closed my mouth, they have fired.”

Smith has held a number of hearings on the Sudanese conflict, including a Feb. 26 hearing, “U.S. Policy Toward Sudan and South Sudan,” by the House Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee. It featured lead witness Donald Booth, Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan from the U.S. State Department, as well as the human rights organizations the Enough Project, Transatlantic Legislative Group on Counter Terrorism and Amnesty International USA.

by Sarah Terzo | Buffalo, NY | LifeNews.com | 5/19/14 9:39 AM

Buffalo, NY (LiveActionNews) — A teenager went through a harrowing ordeal at an abortion clinic on May 16, according to well-known pro-life activist Abby Johnson.

According to status updates posted on Facebook, Johnson, who told the story of her pro-life conversion from Planned Parenthood director to dedicated pro-lifer in her bestselling bookUnplanned, received an emergency phone call from the mother of a pregnant fifteen-year-old she had been counseling.

Johnson described how the girl, who had changed her mind about having an abortion, was held against her will in a locked room at an abortion clinic. She explains:

I have had contact with this 15 year old young woman for several weeks. I was put in touch with her by a prolifer in the Buffalo area who was hoping I could share my experiences with her. Her mother does not want her to have an abortion, but is not mentally stable. Her boyfriend is really pushing her to abort.

Please be in prayer that this young girl will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as she navigates through this journey. Also be in prayer for the local prolifers who are working with her directly. This is a difficult situation, but we know that God is in control.

It is not unusual for the partner of a pregnant woman to pressure her into abortion – in fact, one study showed that 64% of women who have abortions feel they were pressured into them, usually by their male partners. Johnson explained:

She went to the Buffalo Women’s Services tonight for an ultrasound only. As a 15 year old girl, she is very swayed by the opinions of her boyfriend…who does not want her to have anything to do with the pregnancy center in her area. It is not uncommon for private abortion clinics to see patients late at night.

In fact, here in Austin, we have a doctor that starts his abortion procedures sometimes at 10pm. She asked to see her ultrasound and the clinic absolutely refused. She decided then that they were obviously not interested in helping her and told them that she wanted to leave. They would not allow her to leave the room she was in and locked the door. Her mom started freaking out in the waiting room demanding to see her daughter. At that point, her mother was removed from the facility.

It was at this point that she started texting me and the prolifer she has been working with. Both of us called the police and they arrived shortly. Cheryl, the local (and amazing) prolifer drove to the clinic and the young girl was released in her custody for the weekend. The clinic where this girl was being held is the same one who is opening a “birth center” inside the abortion facility.

Some people may wonder why the girl did not call the police herself. A young teenager might find it intimidating or scary to call the police in such a situation, or may not have the perspective to think of it. It might be far more likely for her to reach out to people she knows and trusts, and who, because of their ongoing encouragement, she knew would help her.

The situation ended happily. Thanks to the actions of Johnson and the other pro-lifers, and the intervention of the police, both the girl and her baby are safe.

This shocking story shows how far some abortion clinics will go to pressure women into having abortions.

Johnson has asked all her followers to pray for the pregnant teen, who has not been named.

by Katie McCann | Columbus, OH | LifeNews.com | 5/16/14 5:16 PM

About a month ago, a leader from our chapter Medina County Right to Life told me about a local couple who were told to selectively abort or “reduce” their pregnancy by two or three children. Leann Alferio, the mother, was carrying quintuplets.

Medina County Right to Life put me in touch with Leann who told me her inspirational story about resisting this recommendation, and seeing all five of her babies through to birth.

One thing was clear about her story: The pregnancy was troublesome–but mostly because of the terror that ran through Leann and her husband, Jacob, during their very first ultrasound appointment. This terror came with just a few words from the doctor: “Leann, this is bad–really bad.”

On her blog, Leann recounts:

I obviously thought the worst…there wasn’t a heartbeat, I wasn’t actually pregnant, I had miscarried…in the few seconds of silence that followed her words my mind raced with all the possibilities of what could have gone wrong.

“There are 5″ she said.

I don’t think i completely understood what she meant by that until she was several minutes into her spiel about how a woman’s body is not intended to carry five babies.  She warned us of the risks of mental retardation, cerebral palsy, premature birth, and all the other possibilities that expecting parents never want to hear. She left us with the recommendation to look into fetal reduction and take it into serious consideration.

As disheartening as this appointment was, Leann and Jacob followed through the pregnancy with both determination and faith:

Before we had even gotten to the car after leaving the appointment we had both decided-without any doubt or debate–we were keeping all five.  Although the medical field may call it fetal reduction, we saw it as abortion. God had given us five for a reason and we did not feel it was our position to choose which ones would survive and which ones would not.  If nature believes that five fetuses are too many for a woman to carry then it will take care of that problem on its own. Otherwise, we were preparing for an emotionally challenging road ahead but knew that as long as we had each other we could do it! We considered them each to be a blessing.  

Despite her determination, Leann went to each following appointment terrified. Though she changed doctors and her body handled the pregnancy well, she consistently had high blood pressure because of the stress inflicted by her first appointment.

The support of her family and friends throughout her pregnancy enabled the couple to stay positive throughout their pregnancy. Today, the quintuplets, Kensley, Brooklynn, Leighton, Giovanni, and Jade, are thriving. The Alferios can’t imagine life without any single one of them.

Leann recognizes that her doctor had a duty to tell her about the risks of carrying quintuplets. But the insistence on the down side of this pregnancy seems to have been the source of her stress throughout her pregnancy.

While we always have to have compassion for the women and physicians who are in the position of trying to preserve the life of the mother, I think that there’s something to be said for the constant struggle of the medical field to improve practices so that both the lives of the mother and the child can be saved. That’s what the history of the cesarean section is all about.

Stories like Leann’s provide hope for a better, more ethical medical history that strives to protect all life in the most difficult of circumstances.

David Limbaugh | Cape Girardeau, MO | LifeNews.com | 5/16/14 

Congratulations to pro-abortion advocates for understanding the power of language and employing the art of propaganda to dupe much of the American public into believing that their motivation is “choice” and that abortion is “reproductive care.” No mean feat.

Pro-abortionists are fit to be tied over the Missouri Legislature’s approval of a bill that requires women to wait 72 hours after first seeing a doctor before having an abortion. Gov. Jay Nixon has not yet indicated whether he’ll sign the bill.

The bill’s supporters argued that women need more time to digest information they receive from a doctor about abortion.

But opponents of the bill, in keeping with the practice of pro-abortionists never to find any argument too preposterous to assert, said the longer waiting period would push women further into pregnancy before an abortion, which could increase their risk. Just two more days (the law already requires a 24-hour waiting period)? Come on! The current law and the bill contain an exemption in instances deemed by a doctor to be a medical emergency.

One opponent said, “The idea that a woman would not have taken this time already is insulting.” Is that right? Considering how much leftists sanitize abortion, it’s not as though balanced information is readily available to every pregnant woman considering an abortion.

I ask you, wouldn’t those truly interested in promoting “choice” want to ensure that women make fully informed choices? If they had the best interests of women at heart, wouldn’t they want women considering an abortion to be apprised of all the possible ramifications, including emotional and psychological consequences that many studies say could ensue?

How about the possible link between abortion and breast cancer? Pro-abortionists savage anyone who raises that question, but bullying is no substitute for science, and until the issue is finally resolved, you would think they would err on the side of protecting women. But you would be wrong because their politics compel them to ignore such studies.

Pro-abortionists also said the waiting period would constitute an emotional and financial burden and would force women to go to abortion facilities in neighboring states. We are talking about human life here, folks, and they’re telling us they want to discourage women even from having to ponder, much less agonize over, the decision? Truly pro-choice people would not be so adamant about removing all obstacles and inconveniences to a procedure that terminates human life.

Listen to the tenor and substance of the pro-abortionists’ arguments. It is clear that they want to dehumanize not only the unborn but also the women facing this very traumatic decision. These groups have certainly demonstrated the power of propaganda to effect political and judicial action on abortion, but they’ll never be successful in using it to transform the human soul, conscience or spirit.

No matter how hard the pro-abortionists work to lull women (and men) into believing abortion is purely a mechanical medical procedure, they’ll never be able to convince most women to the depth of their souls that they are not carrying their own flesh and blood in the womb. They may help pregnant women rationalize and suppress their awareness, but they’ll never be able to eliminate it, and I dare say this is the reason so many studies demonstrate that women who have had abortions end up experiencing emotional and psychological problems at some point after an abortion. Ultimately, most people pay a price for trying to outrun their consciences.

I am not moralizing here against the women who decide to get an abortion. That’s a very complex matter. But I am critical of those who, in the name of choice, treat abortion as if it were nothing and labor to remove all impediments to it.

Before you conclude that I’m overstating the case, please listen to former abortion clinic owner Carol Everett, who says the abortion industry actively promotes abortions to make money. “I sold abortions,” she said, describing her abortion clinics as a “cash cow.” “We had a goal of three to five abortions from every girl between the ages of 13 and 18 because we all work on a straight commission inside the abortion industry.”

More chillingly, Everett revealed that in order to reach their financial goal, they first had to create a “market for abortions,” which meant persuading young people, through “sex education,” to see sexuality in an entirely different way than previous generations. From the abortion industry’s point of view, she said, the earlier sex education is started the greater the profits.

Also, when pregnant girls call an abortion clinic and reach a counselor, said Everett, they only hear about abortion, not adoption. The counselors, she explained, are actually telemarketers trained to “overcome objections” and close the deal by making an appointment for an abortion. They reassure the girls by saying such things as “we can take care of the problem” and “no one needs to know.”

Here we have evidence from inside the belly of the beast that abortion clinics hold themselves out as pro-choice when they are actually promoting abortions.

Kudos to the Missouri Legislature for passing this bill and attempting to restore value to human life.

LifeNews Note: David Limbaugh, brother of radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, is an expert in law and politics and author of new book Crimes Against Liberty, the definitive chronicle of Barack Obama’s devastating term in office so far. Reprinted with permission from TownHall.

by Steven Ertelt | London, England | LifeNews.com | 5/14/14 11:20 AM

A judge in England this week ruled that a pregnant 13-year-old girl can have an abortion, even though she is 30-weeks along.

Justice Mostyn ruled she was capable of making decision after the girl, known only as “A” in court documents, said she was not ready to have a baby. She was 21 weeks pregnant when the case went before the High Court in mid-March, making it so her unborn child is roughly 30-weeks-old now.

The teenager, who lives with her parents, only realized she was pregnant when her grandmother spotted her growing bump and took her for medical tests, the London Daily Mail newspaper reported.

The abortion comes as, in the United States, a new report from the Guttmacher Institute finds teenage abortion rates are down to their lowest levels since 1988, a drop of 66 percent from that peak.

Here is more from the report:

The schoolgirl – who can be identified only as ‘A’ – is believed to have thought she had been gaining a little weight for other reasons.

A scan at a local hospital confirmed she was pregnant but the devastated girl said she was not ready to start a family at such a young age and wanted to have a termination.

The girl was 21 weeks pregnant when the case went before the High Court as an emergency hearing in mid-March.

The local authority, which is in the North of England, was forced to seek a declaration that the child had the capacity to make the abortion decision herself.

This was required to ensure that doctors and hospital trusts could not be sued if they carried out the medical procedure.

If the girl was not capable of fully understanding the situation, the local authority would be allowed to terminate the pregnancy if doctors believed it was in her best interests.

He said this was the case even if it might lead her to take steps ‘wholly contrary to her best interests’.

He said girl A was interviewed by a consultant psychiatrist who concluded very clearly that she had ‘a very clear understanding of her position and of the options that were available to her.

‘Those options namely continuance of the pregnancy, or its termination, were discussed.’

 

Mr Justice Mostyn said the law allowed a child aged under 16 to be given contraception if they had ‘sufficient understanding and intelligence’

The psychiatrist said that although A was ‘softly spoken’ she was able to explain to him that her wish was to terminate the pregnancy as ‘she felt that she could not cope with its continuance and it would stress her to a considerable degree.’

Members of the pro-life community, including a number of U.S. Senators, came together at a press conference in Washington D.C., on Tuesday to push for a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks.

"This legislation, which according to five major national polls is supported by the majority of Americans, would protect babies and women from the horrific violence of abortion beyond 20 weeks," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a national pro-life political organization, referring to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670).

Dannenfelser was joined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, and other national pro-life leaders who called on Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring S.1670 to a vote in the Senate. The House version of the bill was passed in June 2013 by an overwhelming majority.

The Susan B. Anthony List president reminded the audience that at 20 weeks, an unborn child in the womb measures about five to six inches and weighs about nine ounces.

"The baby can hear sounds – including his mother's voice, heart and even her growling stomach if she's hungry! The baby can hear sounds outside her mother's body as well – and will cover her ears with her hands if it gets too loud," Dannenfelser continued.

"At this point in pregnancy, doctor's already recommend parents talk to their baby and play music for them. These simple acts recognize the humanity and existence of the child well before their birthday."

Currently, 13 U.S. states have 20-week abortion limits to protect unborn children more than halfway through pregnancy.

The push for the bill comes nearly one year after Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of murdering three babies born alive in his clinic, which has been dubbed the "house of horrors."

Pro-choice groups such as Planned Parenthood have spoken out against the proposed legislation, however, and said that nearly 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks of pregnancy.

In a list of issues it has with the bill, the organization wrote on its website that the 20-week ban is "unconstitutional and a clear attempt to challenge Roe v. Wade at the expense of the health of our nation's women."

It adds that it is dangerous to suggest criminalizing doctors for up to five years in jail for performing such abortion procedures.

"Sen. Graham is not a doctor, and he shouldn't have the right to take options away from doctors in dangerous medical situations, or force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term with no chance of survival," Planned Parenthood argues.

"Worse, the bill criminalizes doctors, with imprisonment of up to five years, fines, or both. Doctors oppose these laws because they prevent them from giving their patients the best health care possible in an individual situation."

Abortion remains a divisive issue in the U.S., with a number of studies and polls commissioned to test American attitudes toward the practice.

A Gallup graph showing the change of attitudes over the years shows that for the past four decades, Americans have largely supported abortion only under certain circumstances, with the latest survey in 2013 noting that 52 percent of respondents hold that view, while another 26 percent support abortion under any circumstances and 20 percent say it should be illegal in all circumstance.

In 2013, 48 percent of respondents also identified with the pro-life group, compared to 45 percent with the pro-choice category.

Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News surveys have found, however, that the majority of Americans do not support late-term abortions.

Dannenfelser concluded her speech by urging the Senate to stand up for humans rights of children late in pregnancy.

"The few, mere inches that separate a child in the womb from a child outside the womb should never determine whether its intentional 'demise,' as Gosnell used to say, is permitted by law," she said.

"Americans overwhelmingly oppose late-term abortions and the law should follow their instinctive resistance to this dehumanizing and degrading practice."

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/9/14 10:11 AM

The pro-life brothers who were set to be the stars of the next HGTV reality television show “Flip It Forward” have a refreshing response to the cable network cancelling the program because of their pro-life beliefs.

HGTV has canceled a new reality television show, Flip It Forward, that was scheduled to debut on Home and Garden Television this October, after learning the stars of the show are pro-life. During the program, brothers David and Jason Benham would be helping families purchase dream homes they otherwise couldn’t afford.

Home and Garden Television has decided to cancel the show after pro-abortion activists outed the brothers as pro-life. The pro-abortion group People for the American Way tagged the brothers as “anti-choice” extremists in an article on their web site and includes comments one of the brothers made about God abhoring abortion.

The network confirmed it was dropping the show, saying on it’s Facebook page: “HGTV has decided not to move forward with the Benham Brothers’ series.”

In response, the Benham brothers issued a statement saying they are “saddened” by HGTV’s decision.

“The first and last thought on our minds as we begin and end each day is; have we shined Christ’s light today? Our faith is the fundamental calling in our lives, and the centerpiece of who we are. As Christians we are called to love our fellow man. Anyone who suggests that we hate homosexuals or people of other faiths is either misinformed or lying. Over the last decade, we’ve sold thousands of homes with the guiding principle of producing value and breathing life into each family that has crossed our path, and we do not, nor will we ever discriminate against people who do not share our views.”

The brothers also said:

“We were saddened to hear HGTV’s decision. With all of the grotesque things that can be seen and heard on television today you would think there would be room for two twin brothers who are faithful to our families, committed to biblical principles, and dedicated professionals. If our faith costs us a television show then so be it.”

Although filming of the program has completed, the brothers are working to make sure they help the families the show was intended to help.

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/6/14 1:29 PM

Planned Parenthood abortion clinics have come under fire countless times over the years for not reporting cases of statutory rape to authorities as required by state law. Now, in Arizona, officials says the abortion giant failed again to provide the proper report to authorities about a victim of a young man who is a serial rapist.

Not only did Planned Parenthood intentionally fail to report the rape but, in so doing, it allowed the rapist to rape as many as 18 or more teenage girls, authorities say, making it so the abortion company is partially responsible for victimizing them as well.

According to the Case Grande Dispatch:

Documents obtained from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office allege a counselor at a health clinic intentionally withheld information about an alleged rape from law enforcement personnel, months before others came forward to stop a Poston Butte High School student from attacking more teenagers.

Tyler Kost, 18, is accused of raping or molesting at least 18 girls, most of them fellow classmates at Poston Butte High School. He is being held without bond in the Pinal County jail.

In forensic interviews with Sheriff’s Office sex crime detectives, a girl who says she became pregnant after Kost raped her last year visited a Planned Parenthood clinic with her mother on New Year’s Eve. According to the report, her mom told the staffer about the sexual assault during the visit.

“The counselor intentionally miscoded the assault as a consensual encounter,” the PCSO report states. “The counselor told them that they did not want the hassle of having to report the assault to law enforcement as they were a mandatory reporter.”

That’s a violation of Arizona law, which requires all suspected sexual abuse incidents be reported to law enforcement.

Naturally, Planned Parenthood denies it did anything wrong, according to an official statement the abortion business released.

In Illinois, the state now requires abortion centers to join legitimate medical facilities in reporting cases of statutory rape to authorities in order for young girls to be protected. That’s something Planned Parenthood opposed.

In Ohio, a lawsuit in which Planned Parenthood was found to have violated an Ohio informed consent law has been “resolved and dismissed,” according to the Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney who filed the suit. ADF-allied attorney Brian Hurley represents the parents of a girl who, at age 14, was brought to a Planned Parenthood clinic for an abortion by the 22-year-old soccer coach who impregnated her.

Earlier this year, a pro-life organization that conducted an undercover investigation in 2002 released additional tapes showing staff at hundreds of abortion centers across the country covering up statutory rape. Life Dynamics released tapes from some of the 813 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation centers it calls across the country. The group placed the calls from Texas, where it is legal to record a phone conversation without the consent of the other party. in the phone calls, an actress portrayed a 13-year-old girl who claimed her 22-year-old boyfriend impregnated her and that she wanted an abortion to keep her parents from finding out.

Also, previously, Live Action footage showed three centers in southern Virginia, a Perth Amboy, New Jersey abortion business and a Planned Parenthood center in Richmond, Virginia all having staffers helping the alleged sex traffickers find information on how to obtain abortions without facing scrutiny and get STD testing for the girls

A Planned Parenthood staffer in New Jersey has already been fired, New Jersey officials are looking into a shoddy abortion center Planned Parenthood referred to in its video, and the Virginia attorney general has received the full footage of the Richmond Planned Parenthood expose’. All three of the new videos clearly show staff willing to aid and abet the sexual trafficking and exploitation of minors and young women and the videos, Lila Rose of Live Action says, provide more evidence of a clear, disturbing pattern of gross misconduct by Planned Parenthood.

The videos have a Roanoke, Virginia abortion facility staffer suggesting the sex trafficker consider going to the health department instead of taking the girls he is victimizing to the Planned Parenthood — because it would be easier to hide the illegal activity.

By SADIE WHITELOCKS

A 25-year-old abortion counselor has filmed herself having a surgical abortion and posted the video on YouTube, saying she wants it to help banish stigma surrounding the procedure.

Emily Letts, who works at the Cherry Hill Women's Center in New Jersey, explains in an article for Cosmopolitan.com that ironically, despite being a sex educator, she hadn't been using any birth control and 'wound up pregnant' by mistake last November. 

In her three-minute YouTube video she is seen being wheeled into the operating theater before being filmed from the waist up as doctors remove the embryo from her womb. She remains awake throughout, numbed only by local anesthetic. 

The video has been watched 36,000 times and has prompted strong reactions from pro-life campaigners as well as those supporting Miss Letts' actions.  

Because she was only in the first trimester of pregnancy, Miss Letts says that she could have swallowed an abortion pill instead of going in for surgery.

However, she 'wanted to do the one that women were most afraid of.'

'I wanted to show it wasn’t scary - and that there is such a thing as a appositive abortion story. It’s my story,' she continues.

She does not state if she was in a relationship at the time, merely stating that the 'guy wasn't involved' in her decision to terminate her pregnancy. 'I knew I wasn't ready to take care of a child,' she notes.

During her abortion Miss Letts - dressed in a hospital gown - practices relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and humming. 

She also talks to a member of staff who stands by the bed holding her hand and supportively rubbing her arm.

Once the short procedure is over, she exclaims: 'Yeah, cool, I feel good. I’m done.'

About a month after her procedure Miss Letts, a former professional actress, candidly reflects about her experience with viewers.

'I don’t feel like a bad person. I don’t feel sad,' she explains, pointing out that many of the patients at her clinic assume that everyone feels guilty after having an abortion. 

'I knew that what I was going to do was right - it was right for me and for no one else.'

Her video has been watched more than 36,000 times since it was uploaded on March 14 and the comments panel has been disabled.

Miss Letts said after she went public with the footage and posted it to Facebook women started sharing their own stories with her.

'I had one women who messaged me saying she'd had an abortion that week and she was plagued with guilt.

'Her boyfriend called her a killer, but she said she was recovering well and appreciated the video.'

However, along with the positive remarks there were also a lot of angry reactions.

'I got... "You deserve to die", "you killed your baby,"' Miss Letts recalled.

According to the National abortion Federation 1.3 million abortions are performed in the U.S. every year, with 20 to 24 year olds accounting for the bulk of procedures.

Like Miss Letts, most abortions (88 per cent) are carried out in the first trimester of pregnancy and fewer than two per cent occur at 21 weeks or later.

After her abortion Miss Letts was fitted with an IUD, a small T-shaped device made from plastic and copper that is placed in the uterus to prevent pregnancy.

'I feel in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life, I just want to tell my story,' she concludes.