Northland “Family Planning Centers” of Michigan are now advertising their services with a video calling abortion “sacred work.”
Set to soft, upbeat piano music and themed with pink pastel shades, a recently uploaded video entitled “Every Day, Good Woman Choose Abortion,” assures prospective customers that deciding “to have an abortion is a normal experience,” and that the decision is a good decision. The video’s spokeswoman continues: “Goodness is courage, honesty, wisdom, risking for what you believe is right for you, making choices that are good for yourself.”
“Goodness is not perfection, it is not obedience, and it is not martyrdom.”
The staff at Northland, the narrator continues, believe in the “essential goodness” of abortion. The narrator speaks of a sign hanging at the Northland abortion facility that reads: “We do sacred work that honors women and the circle of life and death. When you come here, bring only love.”
The video showcases a quotation from the recently murdered late-term abortionist George Tiller, which states: “Abortion is not a cerebral or a reproductive issue. Abortion is a matter of the heart. For until one understands the heart of a woman, nothing else about abortion makes any sense at all.”
Northland abortion mills have been previously connected with the “November Gang” group of abortionists. The “November Gang” is set apart from other anti-life organizations by their use of pre- and post-abortion “counseling” sessions that ape the language and techniques used in pro-life movements like Project Rachel. In practice, this means November Gang groups are more willing to admit that abortion kills a baby.
This leads to bizarre practices in some facilities such as baptizing and praying over a baby’s bloody remains, or admitting that abortion kills but anticipating God’s forgiveness before the fact. The Northland website, in its section on emotional healing, advises women to write a letter “to the spirit of the child inside of them.”
It continues: “Some women write how they came to their decision, some ask for forgiveness. Some thank the spirit for the wisdom or thoughts they have had about life. Some write about the love they feel. Sometimes, having a way to say goodbye is an important part of healing.”
The website also advises women “to create your own way to acknowledge your loss or changes. It may be as simple as releasing a symbolic object into the water, planting a tree or writing a poem. It would be a way for you to memorialize the day and move forward.”
The videos are just the latest attempts by Northland to make abortion seem as attractive as possible. In 2000 the New York Times reported that Renee Chelian, founder of the Northland abortion center, needed something special to draw customers in the face of stiff competition; and so “she created almost a spa-like atmosphere at her offices, with low light in the rooms, aromatherapy, candles and relaxing music.”
“As altruistic as women and feminists want to be, the reality is that we can only stay in business if we earn enough to keep our doors open,” Chelian said in the article.
The narrator in the recently released video goes on to say: “If you have made the decision to have an abortion, and are having a hard time feeling good about yourself, and remembering that you are a good person, let us remind you and help you see the goodness in yourself and your choice.
“You are a good woman, doing the best you can in your situation.”
The video concludes by assuring customers that “we work from our hearts, and our hearts are open to yours.”