By Cheryl Sullenger
Lynnwood, WA – A newly obtained recording of a 911 call placed by an employee of the Lynnwood Planned Parenthood in Lynnwood, Washington, has clarified the cause of the “possibly dangerous hemorrhage” that occurred on March 12, 2021, which was reported earlier by Operation Rescue,
The new 911 call recording revealed that the injured woman’s uterus began to hemorrhage after a pap smear, not an abortion. When asked if the bleeding was serious, the caller confirmed that it was.
A pap smear is a test for cervical cancer, which involves scraping the cervical area with brushes to collect cells, which are then examined to determine if cancer cells are present. Pap tests sometimes irritate the cervix to the point that spotting occurs.
However, the Planned Parenthood caller also told the 911 dispatcher that the clinic staff had given the 35-year-old woman a drug called “Methergine,” which is used to prevent and control post-partum hemorrhaging. It did not appear to have been successful at controlling the woman’s unusual hemorrhaging, hence the need for an ambulance.
Significant bleeding after a pap test may be a symptom of a more serious condition. According to healthline.com, sexually transmitted infections, yeast infections, and even birth control use can lead to bleeding as the result of a Pap test. However, it is rare that a woman receiving the test would experience serious uterine hemorrhaging.
Because Operation Rescue only had access to a heavily redacted CAD transcript that used a priority code for “possibly dangerous hemorrhage” at the time of the original reporting on this incident, it was logical to opine that the woman’s hemorrhaging might have been abortion related, especially since the Lynnwood Planned Parenthood dispenses abortion pills, which are known to cause hemorrhaging in some cases. The 911 call recording was later unexpectedly supplied to Operation Rescue.
“This is a perfect example of why the public needs access to unredacted information on public records. Over-redacted recordings and transcripts leave those of us who study such incidents without enough information to do more than make an educated guess about what might have happened. We have reported on hundreds of medical emergencies at abortion facilities and have enough experience to report likely possibilities, as we did at first in this case,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “But even though this hemorrhaging incident was not abortion-related, it is one that is extremely rare, so much so that negligence on the part of the nurse practitioner who apparently conducted the test on this patient cannot be ruled out at this time.”
