This is what abortion doctor Suzanne Poppema says to a woman she is doing an abortion on:
“I’m going to be stretching your cervix just a little bit, so you’ll feel some pressure and some mild cramping. But it shouldn’t be anything that hurts a lot. So if it does, then please tell me because I can fix that easily.” She still seems relaxed. Seconds later I tell her that the stretching of the cervix is accomplished and “we’re more than half way done now.” Dawn reports that she feels all right and is continuing to concentrate on her breathing. I get no indication from her physical responses that she’s having any pain at all.
“Now you’ll hear a loud noise coming from the machine,” I warn her as I activate the suction device. “I’m inserting a plastic suction tube now and you’ll feel a little pulling and tugging as I empty your uterus…. Everything is going just fine,” I assure her, warning her about a dental-procedure like sucking noise that will be caused by a piece of tissue briefly blocking the suction tube. When the piece clears the tissue continues to flow through the translucent suction tube an into a large glass container. I can tell now that the procedure is typical of abortions at this term of pregnancy.
“Now there will be a little more of the tugging and pulling,” I tell her, but Dawn doesn’t seem to notice it much. “Now your uterus is beginning to empty much more rapidly,” I report, “and you may feel more cramping. But that’s a very good sign. It means you’re not going to bleed very much and it means we’re almost finished. I’m going to stop just briefly to give your uterus a rest, so you’ll hear that really obnoxious sucking noise. I’m going to let you rest for about thirty seconds. Then I’m going to do one more check to see to it I’m not leaving any lining tissue inside that might cause you problems later on. This will take about one more minute and then we’ll be done. But you’ve pretty much felt as bad as you’re going to feel.”
A minute later, I assure her that her uterus is clamping down just as it should be. Seconds later I pull the suction tube away and announce, “We’re all done.”
Suzanne T. Poppema, MD and Mike Henderson Why I am an Abortion Doctor (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1996) 21-22
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