By Anne Reed
On Friday afternoon, October 21, participants of a 40 Days for Life prayer vigil observed an ambulance and police vehicle in the parking lot of West Chester Surgical Center Planned Parenthood in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
According to Operation Rescue’s associates, Thursdays are chemical abortion days and Fridays are surgical abortion days at this Planned Parenthood facility. It performs surgical abortions up to 13 weeks and 6 days gestation.
This emergency could have been related to either type of abortion, as chemical abortions take more than one day to complete. But since most abortion clinics advise patients to go to an emergency room when they experience complications at home, it was more likely related to complications during a surgical abortion.
Unfortunately, the state of Pennsylvania requires a subpoena for a third party to obtain a 911 call recording. However, Operation Rescue did secure a brief dispatch recording.
In Pennsylvania, abortion is legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Though the overturn of Roe v. Wade had no immediate, direct effect on the state, the number of abortion clinics decreased from 16 to 15 in 2022. According to Operation Rescue’s recent annual survey, Pennsylvania currently has nine surgical abortion clinics and six pill-only clinics in operation.
“We will continue working to close abortion facilities in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “With each closed clinic, innocent lives are saved, and chances of mothers experiencing frightening medical emergencies like this one decrease as well.
“Though the results of the recent mid-term election do not look favorable for the pro-life position in the Keystone State, we are praying for legal protections as we work to expose extreme cruelty to innocent human beings in the womb, as well as the dangers posed to their mothers.”
