Planned Parenthood Accepts Reality on Fetal Heartbeats

One of Planned Parenthood’s favored legal arguments against the heartbeat laws passed in many states is that fetal heartbeats aren’t “real.” Planned Parenthood has relied on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), whose “Guide to Language and Abortion” and many amicus briefs said that “a fetal heartbeat exists only after the chambers of the heart have developed and can be detected via ultrasound, which typically occurs around 17 to 20 weeks’ gestation.” Thus, said ACOG, “there is no recognizable ‘heartbeat’ from a clinical perspective,” and “[w]hat pregnant [women] may hear is the ultrasound machine translating electronic impulses that signify fetal cardiac activity.” ACOG said this to courts over and over and over and over and over and over. In a noteworthy reversal, Planned Parenthood just admitted that ACOG was wrong. ---More...