‘It Actually Feels A Lot Like A Child Birth’ Reporter Whispers As NPR Airs Abortion Procedure On Air

‘It Actually Feels A Lot Like A Child Birth’ Reporter Whispers As NPR Airs Abortion Procedure On Air

Laurel Duggan on November 3, 2022

NPR aired audio of an abortion Thursday, including the sounds of a woman crying, a loud medical instrument running and the voices of staff calming the patient down during the procedure.

The abortion audio was part of a segment on abortion in Michigan, where a battle is raging over whether the state will enforce its pre-Roe v. Wade ban on abortion. The woman whose abortion was recorded was 11 weeks pregnant.

“Some listeners will find the details of this story disturbing,” the reporter warns early in the segment.

“Most patients are partially awake during the procedures,” the reporter says. “They get IV medication for pain and anxiety. The lights are dimmed. There’s soothing music. It actually feels a lot like a childbirth.”

After interviewing a few patients in the waiting room, the reporter joins an unnamed woman for her abortion, narrating the entire procedure. A staff member holds the woman’s hand and another staff member warns her that a machine is going to turn on and make a loud noise.

A medical instrument, presumably a vacuum, begins running and the patient cries as a staff member tells her repeatedly to keep breathing. The patient has painful cramps and says she can’t breath, and the abortion ends within a few minutes, according to the reporter narrating the scene.

I almost didn’t want to tweet this but it’s something everyone needs to know. NPR on the radio this morning played audio of a woman getting an abortion. You can hear the vacuum turning on, crying, moaning, and the doctor telling her it’s done.

Warning: It’s tough to listen to. pic.twitter.com/nlSNz0m5Ka

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 3, 2022

Staff members can be heard after the procedure congratulating the patient, saying “you did it” and “you did great” in high pitched voices.

The reporter said there were inspiring signs on the walls of the clinic including one that said “Good women get abortions.” One woman she interviewed was seeking an abortion at about 14 weeks; she was crying and said she already had two children.

One woman at the clinic was aborting a child fathered by a man she said was emotionally abusive. Another woman said she was financially stable and happily married with three children, but was getting an abortion because she simply felt that that phase of her life was over. Another woman at the clinic was aborting a child fathered by a man she said was emotionally abusive.

NPR did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.