Leaked videos from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reveal the politicized messaging given to medical providers trained to work with veterans and beneficiaries regarding reproductive healthcare and, more specifically, abortion.
The training videos, obtained by the Post Millennial, reportedly assert “that abortion is always a safer option than childbirth and the health risks involved in pregnancy are far greater than abortion.” The presentations inform providers that the pregnant veteran or beneficiary can choose life or abortion for her child; nonetheless, the medical professional is required to present her with the information conveyed in the videos that makes abortion appear to be the safer and more responsible option.
The VA training videos source several Planned Parenthood-linked organizations that directly benefit from women choosing abortion, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Guttmacher Institute, which the Post Millennial notes, was formerly the publishing arm of Planned Parenthood.
Medical providers are directly instructed to use “inclusive” terms like “pregnancy capable person” instead of “mother,” and “fetus” or “embryo” instead of “baby” or “unborn child.” They are also told to refer to a woman’s “uterus” rather than “womb,” and use the term “intact dilation and evacuation”(D&C abortion) to describe a “partial-birth abortion.” In summary, they are directed to use any terminology that effectively devalues the woman’s role and dehumanizes the baby.
“Not all people who seek abortions identify as women,” the VA video slides state. “‘Person who is pregnant’ is more inclusive and preferred to ‘pregnant woman.'” The videos also use the problematic phrase “forced pregnancy through denied abortion” and assert that abortion is “essential, life-saving care.”
The training states that women who are denied abortions, often because they are too far along in pregnancy, frequently experience feelings of “regret, anger, and anxiety.”
The VA training purposefully creates negative connotations regarding women who choose life for their child or have a child as a result of being denied abortions. Providers are told to advise women on all of the negative impacts that having a child could have on their lives, while the negative impacts of abortion are rarely discussed.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
