Right after the Opinion page of the June 16 Press Herald was a full-page advertisement by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. At the top of the page was the assessment “Planned Parenthood saves lives.” Bear with me, I can define the “saves lives” declaration as hypocrisy or at least disingenuous to the topic of human life. Amazingly, Planned Parenthood ignores the human lives aborted to the tune of several hundred thousand each year nationwide.

Believe it or not, Planned Parenthood had an official position opposing abortion. A 1963 pamphlet said that “An abortion kills the life of the baby after it has begun.” That beginning point of human life is at conception. Generally, Planned Parenthood didn’t officially begin performing abortions until the early 1970s when liberal states began legalizing abortions.

The science of embryology has always concluded that human life begins at conception. Not at implantation, not when sentient, not when brain waves are strongly detected, not when able to survive outside the mother’s womb. At conception, period.

Science has discovered that, at the moment of conception, an absolutely unique DNA is created that has instructions for human development. At the exact moment of conception, human characteristics are set: eye color, hair color, future male or female anatomy, etc. At about the six-week stage of development, a primitive fetal heart has formed and is already pumping blood.

Will Planned Parenthood ever return to recognizing the humanity of human life in the mother’s womb?

Daniel Pryor
Gorham