UM hosts lecture claiming abortions are 'safer than most dental surgeries,' doctors disagree
The University of Montana hosted a Zoom lecture discussing abortion, during which the speaker said that abortion is “safer than most dental surgeries.”
Doctors contacted by Campus Reform, however, disagree.
During a University of Montana event on abortion access in the state, a speaker said that “crisis pregnancy centers are intentionally deceptive,” that they “prey on people,” and said that abortions are “safer than most dental surgeries.”
On December 8, the University of Montana released a recorded Zoom lecture about the alleged stifling of abortion access in Montana after previously being presented to students on October 29 during the university’s annual DiverseU week.
The university released the video after being contacted by Campus Reform multiple times.
Maggie Bornstein, a student at the university, gave the presentation and stated that she had been a longtime volunteer of Planned Parenthood.
”Abortion Access in Montana has been stifled by anti-choice legislation, acts of terrorism against Montana clinics, and a reduction in the number of clinics across the state,” stated the description
The 35-minute Zoom recording, now available on YouTube, addresses a concern for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination and includes the “Unstoppable” video produced by Planned Parenthood, which Bornstein claimed motivates her.
While then addressing the decline in abortions in Montana, Bornstein claimed: “abortions are steadily declining,” but “not because abortion is a bad thing.”
One of her biggest concerns however is that “there are actually more crisis pregnancy centers in Montana than there are abortion providers” She argues that this is of concern because “crisis pregnancy centers are intentionally deceptive” and “prey on people.”
Bornstein even included a chart titled “Signs You’re at a Crisis Pregnancy Center,” and the list included that “their advertisements address your fears,” “they do outreach in low-income neighborhoods,” and “they might use images of infants, sometimes religious references, or the word ‘hope.’”
Bornstein finally declared near the end of her presentation that abortion is “safer than most dental surgeries.”
Dr. David Roberts, however, is a practicing physician at the LaVie Pregnancy Clinic in Billings, Montana, and commented on the inaccuracy of such a statement.
He said he personally completed abortion procedures throughout a stretch of roughly six years and stated that abortions are nowhere near as safe as Bornstein claims.
“I am personally aware of a young lady who died of Sepsis after an abortion,” Roberts said.
He also explained to Campus Reform that he was once contacted by an insurance company to review a chart for a woman who underwent an abortion procedure and her “bowels were accidentally sucked up by the suction cannula” after her uterus had been perforated.
Overall, he concluded, “I have been aware of patients that have come into the hospital with rather severe complications from an abortion.”
Dr. Al Olzewski is a physician who practiced in Montana for 32 years as a surgeon and said that “the claim that abortions are safer than most dental surgeries is a hyper-exaggeration.”
[RELATED: Utah health prof who advocates abortion fails to disclose Planned Parenthood ties]
Vince Tarallo, a student at the university, told Campus Reform that the event only shows how biased the university is toward the left.
“There is an obvious bias in most of the events put on at the university. They simply cultivate a left wing echo chamber and slap on the label of ‘diversity.’”
Hailey Michelson, the Student Involvement and Branch Center Program Manager, told Campus Reform that presentations for the DiverseU event were accepted through a topic proposal process in which the “DiverseU student coordinator reviews and selects the presentations.”
She said that “we hope DiverseU helps create a more equitable campus.”
Bornstein was also contacted, but she refused to provide a comment for Campus Reform.
Follow the author of this article: Emily Kokot
