Planned Parenthood “Doctor” Claims Infants and Toddlers Don’t Feel Pain

We knew this case against Planned Parenthood would be vital for babies and women. That’s why we labeled it as the “Trial of the Century” against the abortion giant. In open court, the mask came off.

Planned Parenthood experts who claimed that one-year-olds likely can’t feel pain. Stories of moldy equipment. Shame, depression, suicidal thoughts, perforated uteruses, and rotting fetal tissue – These were the horrors that permeated the courtroom.

This testimony didn’t just shock the courtroom – it revealed the extreme, dehumanizing logic required to justify the indefensible.

Last week, the “Trial of the Century” wrapped up in a Jackson County, Missouri courthouse. The players were Planned Parenthood and the state of Missouri. The ACLJ and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office stood in court on behalf of Missouri women and their unborn children in a case that strikes at the heart of whether states can enforce basic medical and safety standards on abortion providers. The outcome of this trial has enormous implications – not just for Missouri, but for the protection of women and unborn children nationwide.

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Planned Parenthood sued the State of Missouri after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which pushed regulatory authority back to the states. Missouri enacted a “trigger law” banning all abortions which took effect when Roe was overturned. Then, in November of 2024, the voters of Missouri voted the “Reproductive Freedom Initiative” into the Missouri Constitution. What is now Article 1 Section 36 of the Missouri Constitution is what Planned Parenthood sued under in this challenge.

Within one day of the constitutional amendment becoming law, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed a sweeping lawsuit challenging dozens of statutes and health and safety regulations for abortion providers.

Planned Parenthood challenged: the information women are required to be given prior to obtaining an abortion; a 72 hour waiting period to ensure decisional certainty; in person visits with the same provider at initial visit and surgical procedure; doctors being the sole provider of abortions; complication plans approved by the state for medication abortion patients; a 21 year tail insurance policy for abortion providers for survivors of abortions to sue for abortion related injuries; admitting privileges at hospitals by abortion clinics for abortion providers; licensing for abortion facilities similar to urgent care facilities; no abortions post-viability; a prohibition against interfering with EMT or ambulances reaching a patient in distress at an abortion facility; and a “reasons ban” which prohibited abortion based on sex, race, or disability of the unborn baby. This is not an exhaustive list of what Planned Parenthood seeks to invalidate in the State of Missouri. Planned Parenthood’s petition can be found here.

The widespread and nonsensical nature of this legal challenge is why the ACLJ joined this fight to protect Missouri women from substandard and inadequate medical practices. The abortion industry – driven by endless funds from Planned Parenthood for America and free legal work from the country’s top firms – must be held accountable.

What Happened at Trial

Throughout the proceedings, the court heard extensive testimony and legal arguments addressing whether Missouri’s laws are legitimate health protections or, as Planned Parenthood claims, unconstitutional restrictions.

Planned Parenthood claimed to speak for Missouri’s women. But in the week Planned Parenthood presented their case, not one Missouri woman testified in favor of striking down these laws. Not one single Missouri woman was presented by Planned Parenthood. Instead, Planned Parenthood’s witnesses were their own doctors, clinic staff, lobbyists, and “experts” who opined on radical and dangerous ideological stances based on pseudoscience.

Here are some of the lowlights:

1. Planned Parenthood tried to ignore the tragic circumstances at their own clinics where women were injured to the point of hysterectomies by redundantly parroting the phrase “abortion is very safe.”
2. Dr. Steven Ralston, a Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctor testified  that infants and toddlers likely do not feel pain because they are not “conscious beings.” Dr. Ralston also testified that viability is only known if the baby lives or dies, specifically “if it dies, then it was not a viable pregnancy.”
3. Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and Great Rivers Action representative Margot Riphagen testified that she enjoyed working for an organization that “pushed the envelope” on challenging abortion restrictions.
4. Attorneys (paid for by Planned Parenthood for America) argued that no witness was qualified to speak on abortion safety unless the witness had performed abortions.
5. Planned Parenthood “expert” Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OBGYN, testified that there is no mental health impact on women who have had abortions.
6. Clinic staff conceded that babies do survive abortions. But Planned Parenthood representatives testified that insurance covering survivors’ physical or psychological injuries in lawsuits against the abortion provider is unnecessary because it’s burdensome on the provider.
7. On issues pertaining to abortion facility licenses, type of provider performing the abortion, or informed consent practices, Planned Parenthood’s approach was “trust us, it’ll be fine.” In Planned Parenthood’s ideal world, the janitor would be qualified to provide a surgical or medication abortion.

The State of Missouri, supported by the ACLJ, presented evidence demonstrating that these Missouri regulations reflect standard medical practices designed to protect patient safety. The State’s witnesses brought powerful testimony to counteract Planned Parenthood’s extreme arguments:

1. Women who had suffered severe mental health consequences, including suicidal ideations after abortions. Women also testified that abortions affected their ability to parent their other children.
2. Women who had suffered severe physical consequences like perforated uteruses and hysterectomies after botched abortions in Planned Parenthood’s clinics, or rotting retained tissue after a medication abortion.
3. Women who were forced by family to obtain an abortion because of the father’s race.
4. A former abortion provider testified that the reality of providing abortions was awful and he stopped performing abortions because of the emotional wear it had on him.
5. Psychologists who personally treated the mental health struggles of women pre and post abortions. These psychologists testified that women are at a substantial risk for suicide after abortions. These psychologists also testified that, when women are not told the complete risks, benefits, and alternatives to abortion, and are not given the appropriate time to make that decision, it is a “barrier” to informed consent.
6. Medical ethicists testified to the critical nature of ultrasounds and written informed consent materials so that the pregnancy and choice are fully actualized by the woman seeking an abortion.
7. Missouri doctors who treated complications from Missouri Planned Parenthood abortion providers. These doctors also testified that when attempting to gain information about a patient by calling Planned Parenthood, the doctor was unable to reach any medical staff to know the origin of the patient’s complications.
8. Doctors testified that the “age of viability” sits at 22 weeks gestation and lowering rapidly as medical treatment advances for babies in utero.
9. Melissa Ohden, an abortion survivor and founder of The Abortion Survivors Network, testified about the physical and emotional injuries to abortion survivors and their families and the lack of knowledge on knowing abortion could fail.
10. Missouri Department of Health inspectors testified to chronic uncleanliness in Planned Parenthood facilities, including moldy medical equipment, rusty cabinets, patient tables that could not be sanitized, and improper sanitation practices for medical instruments.

The State stood with and for Missouri women.

What Is at Stake

This case is far from over. Post-trial proceedings will not conclude for several months. If Planned Parenthood succeeds, the consequences could reach far beyond Missouri. A ruling in its favor could weaken states’ ability to enforce medical licensing laws and health standards for abortion providers nationwide. But if Missouri prevails, it will affirm that abortion providers cannot operate without oversight and must comply with the same safety requirements relevant to the services they provide.

Planned Parenthood’s legal team is a well-oiled machine. It is comprised of attorneys from Planned Parenthood for America, the ACLU, and pro-bono lawyers from the nation’s top law firms. This fight will not stop with Missouri. Planned Parenthood will simply pick up their team and move to the next state and then the next. With each legal challenge to health and safety regulations, Planned Parenthood will pick up steam. This is why pro-life states must be prepared, and pro-life organizations must be as ready to defend life as Planned Parenthood is to advertise death.

The fight also continues in the voting booth. Missouri citizens will vote on a replacement to the constitutional amendment that Planned Parenthood sued Missouri under in November of 2026. Protecting life begins in the ballot box.

The ACLJ’s Commitment to Life

The ACLJ is proud to stand alongside Missouri in this landmark case. Our legal team remains committed to defending pro-life laws, protecting women from unsafe medical practices, and ensuring that the abortion industry is not allowed to operate above the law.

This case went to trial at the same time as the Washington D.C. “March for Life.” This poignant timing illustrated what the ACLJ does best: fighting for life in courtrooms across America. Recently the ACLJ has filed in several pro-life cases around the country, including the case where Planned Parenthood dropped its lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s removal of federal funding for abortion. We will continue this fight.

The stakes of this case are enormous, and the outcome will help shape how states nationwide can ensure the safety of women. Take action with us today as we battle Planned Parenthood state by state and add your name to the petition: Stop Planned Parenthood’s Nationwide War on Babies.

LifeNews Note: Kelsey E. McGee is Associate Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) Washington, D.C., office.

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