Monday, November 9, 2009

Statement from doctor who witnessed horrific abortion practices in Phoenix at Planned Parenthood

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARICOPA
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ARIZONA,
INC., an Arizona non-profit corporation,
Plaintiff,
v.
TERRY GODDARD, Attorney General of
Arizona, in his official capacity; the
ARIZONA MEDICAL BOARD; LISA
WYNN, in her official capacity as Executive
Director of the Arizona Medical Board;
ARIZONA BOARD OF OSTEOPATHIC
EXAMINERS IN MEDICINE AND
SURGERY; ELAINE LETARTE, in her
official capacity as the Executive Director of
the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners
in Medicine and Surgery; and KEN
BENNETT, Secretary of State of the State of
Arizona, in his official capacity,
Defendants
Case No.: CV2009-029110
DECLARATION OF
ENRIQUETA PORRAS, M.D.
(Honorable Donald Daughton)

DECLARATION OF ENRIQUETA PORRAS, M.D.
COMES NOW DR. ENRIQUETA PORRAS, M.D., and declares as follows:
1. I am an individual having obtained the age of majority and having knowledge of the
statements contained herein.
2. Since 2004, I am a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist. I have a bachelor of arts in
integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley and doctor of medicine from the
University of Arizona. I did my residency through the Phoenix Integrated Residency in Obstetrics
and Gynecology. During my residency, I was appointed Chief Administrative Resident and received
recognition for academic excellence and the Berlex Best Teaching Resident Award.
3. I am a member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, the American
Medical Association, and the Arizona Medical Association.
4. During the second year of my residency, as part of the Family Planning Rotation, my
colleagues and I were offered the opportunity to learn how to do elective abortions by spending a
short period of time at Planned Parenthood. Most of my colleagues did not want to learn the
procedure, so they did not participate. Even though I did not want to perform abortions, I knew it
was inevitable that I would have a patient who would inquire about abortion, and I wanted to be able
to better counsel my patients as to what the process is like, so I went to Planned Parenthood.
5. The training took place at Planned Parenthood’s clinic on 7th Street in Phoenix. I attended
the training for approximately one week. After that week, I was unable to continue the training
because I was greatly disturbed by the practices I observed at Planned Parenthood.
6. During the training, I observed women coming in for abortions. The first part of the process
was checking each woman's vital signs, taking blood samples, and performing ultrasounds on each
woman. I was specifically instructed by clinic staff not to use the term “baby” during the
ultrasounds. Several patients requested to see the images of the ultrasounds, and the clinic staff
refused, stating that the patient would not know what she was looking at anyway because it’s all gray
and black, even though I could see the fetus and a beating heart.
7. Following this basic examination, the women were brought as a group into a room to watch a
video explaining the abortion procedure and potential complications for the patients to watch for
after the procedure. There was a morning group and an afternoon group.
8. I was very troubled by the videos, which presented information that I do not believe to be
true. One video stated that going through a full term pregnancy and having a child causes more
emotional distress than an abortion. The video also stated that there are no long-term psychological
effects from abortion and that the most common emotion after an abortion is “relief.”
9. After viewing the video, the patients who were receiving medication abortions lined up and
were given their medication by a nurse. Patients who were receiving surgical abortions were called
one at a time into the exam rooms. I never saw any of the women counseled in a one-on-one
conversation with anyone. The doctor performing the surgical abortions first met the patients when
she entered the room to perform the abortion.
10. The experience of one particular patient was especially disturbing to me. The patient was
crying uncontrollably on the exam table with her legs up in the stirrups. The physician doing the
abortion appeared angry and told the patient, “If you can’t lay still, I can’t do this.” The patient
finally calmed down, and the doctor performed the procedure. The patient was then told that if she
wanted to speak to a counselor, she should talk to someone at checkout.
11. Following the surgical abortion, the doctor would examine the contents removed from the
uterus for fetal parts. I saw ribcages, eyes, and hands in the fetal parts.
12. The overall experience at Planned Parenthood was so distressing that I could not complete
the entire training.

No comments: