In an exclusive interview with the Eternal Word Television Network’s “Pro-Life Weekly,” businesswoman and 2016 presidential candidate Carly Fiorina got personal about her pro-life stance.
Talking with host Catherine Szeltner, Fiorina shared a “whole set” of deeply personal “experiences”—each one a kind of near-death experience—that inspired her to value life as a “precious gift” that deserves protection.
Fiorina Accompanied a Friend to Planned Parenthood, Saw The Cruelty Firsthand
Fiorina told of a “very good friend” she had when she was in her “early twenties.” Her friend “decided she was going to have an abortion,” Fiorina recalled, “and despite my talking with her … we went to a Planned Parenthood clinic.”
Planned Parenthood immediately subjected Fiorina’s friend to the trauma of abortion. She “was given no options,” Fiorina said. “There was no conversation about whether or not this was the right thing for her and what her other alternatives might be.”
Fiorina said she still remembers “the impact of that abortion” on her friend, “not just physically, but emotionally, and especially spiritually. Honestly, she was never the same since.”
The devastation that Fiorina witnessed in her friend is not unique. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and other debilitating symptoms are epidemic among post-abortive women. The phenomenon has even given rise to a small industry of organizations like Rachel’s Vineyard, which provides therapy and ministry to women who have suffered through abortions.
Many of Us, Including Carly Fiorina’s Husband, Would Never Have Been Born if Abortion Advocates Had Their Way
When she married her husband Frank, Fiorina was shocked to discover that he might never have been born. His mother saved his life by rejecting a doctor’s advice. She “had a great deal of difficulty with her previous pregnancies,” Fiorina said, “and so her doctor told her that her life was in danger and so she should abort her unborn child. She refused. She was a brave and faithful woman.”
Fiorina reflected how different her life would have been if it weren’t for her mother-in-law’s brave choice—a choice which the abortion industry, for all its “pro-choice” rhetoric, does so much to discourage.
According to the Planned Parenthood-affiliated Guttmacher Institute, approximately one in five pregnancies in the U.S. ends in abortion. It is absurd to believe any significant percentage of this massive number was necessary to save mothers’ lives. Even pro-abortion medical experts admit that it is never necessary to perform an abortion, that is, the intentional and targeted killing of an unborn child, to save the life of a mother.
Fiorina also commented on the many other people among us who escaped abortion, particularly the disabled. “I volunteered in a school for children that were severely disabled in some way, whether it was physical disabilities or mental challenges,” she said. “Every single one of these children was gifted by God. And I can remember in particular a little boy who had so many challenges, so many challenges. And yet, joy radiated out of this child.”
Here Fiorina once again taps into a near-universal experience. It is likely that every person reading these words has a number of friends whose mothers chose life against the advice of a doctor. This is especially the case when it comes to the disabled.
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that every seriously disabled person one knows was once recommended for abortion, if his or her disability was detected during gestation. By the most conservative estimates, for example, people with Down’s Syndrome are aborted at a rate of nearly 70 percent.
Fiorina, a Cancer Surviver, Shames Planned Parenthood’s ‘Cancer Screenings’ Lie
Carly Fiorina was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in 2009. The news filled her with “sheer terror,” she said. But battling the disease also “reaffirmed” her faith. “I relied on my faith and my faith didn’t let me down. It strengthened my family. You know what love really is when you’re in a very difficult situation, not when you’re in an easy situation.”
If surviving cancer made Fiorina stronger, it also made her all the more skeptical of Planned Parenthood’s claims.
“Planned Parenthood supporters say defunding the abortion giant would prevent more women from getting breast exams and from detecting cancer,” said EWTN’s Catherine Szeltner. “This is an issue that is obviously very close to you. So how do you respond to those claims?”
“Well first of all, of course it’s untrue,” Fiorina replied. “It’s a lie. Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide mammograms. They provide references for mammograms, but so do pregnancy centers, community health centers—there are all kinds of centers available for women … that can provide a women access to the holistic healthcare that she needs, including mammograms.”
One wonders if Planned Parenthood’s claim of providing life-saving mammograms could even be dangerous, delaying cancer detections through misdirection. Fiorina calls the organization’s claim “a myth … but obviously it’s a myth that has a big impact, because we all want women to have access to early detection, which is the key to survival in cancer.”
Fiorina’s concerns about Planned Parenthood are backed up by the facts. As Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser wrote this week at the Daily Caller, “Planned Parenthood is … not a health care provider.” Dannenfelser argues that the abortion provider’s current “442 million dollars in federal funding” should be rerouted “to a nationwide network of community health centers that outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities more than 20 to 1 – and that deserve taxpayers’ trust infinitely more.”
Tune In! EWTN’s Exclusive Interview Airs Again Tomorrow
Carly Fiorina’s exclusive interview with Catherine Szeltner on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” first aired Friday, March 31st. It will be aired again at 10:00am EST on Sunday, April 2nd.