NPR (National Public Radio) is facing severe backlash after airing the audio of a woman in Michigan getting an abortion.
Trigger Warning: The information in this article can be sensitive to some, discretion is advised.
Following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, women have been traveling to Michigan from other states to seek abortions. The media house took the opportunity to cover the segment and made the choice to broadcast the audio.
Internet users voiced their opinions about the event, and they were not pleased. One user, @FiatLuxGenesis took to Twitter to comment on how the radio shared "an actual murder." She then explained how she fears that democracy can be dangerous by saying,
"NPR aired a woman having an abortion being done. That is where our society is. An actual murder on the radio. If this is "democracy"-- where government funded radio airs a murder of an innocent human being--then it's an absolute horror."
NPR airs abortion audio, leaving listeners scarred
NPR journalist Kate Wells traveled to a suburb of Detroit and found a patient who was willing to be recorded during her procedure. The recording captured the sounds of the machines and the nurses comforting the patient while the patient was partially awake.
You can hear the vacuum turning on, the woman crying and moaning, and then the doctor announcing the end of the procedure.
This audio was aired on the radio, and listeners have taken to Twitter to share their horror, calling it "wicked," "sickening," and demanding that NPR be defunded.
Pro-life activists have taken to social media to call out the radio show, claiming that it is promoting the "murder" of innocent human beings by trying to normalize abortion. They call it violence and the dehumanization of human beings.
The radio show shared the audio in an attempt to promote transparency on the taboo subject, but some believe the act backfired on them.
Abortion rights in constant debate
Americans have been under constant debate about whether or not women should be allowed to get abortions. Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice has become synonymous with political alignment, with the former leaning towards Republican views and the latter, Democratic.
Pro-Lifers believe that the others are abortion apologists and are trying to share stories of emotional and physical damage that women go through during and after the procedure. They consider the fetus a living being, thereby thinking about the fetus as a human being with rights.
Pro-Choice believers, on the other hand, express that women deserve the right to choose whether they want the procedure or not, and no one, other than the mother, should have an opinion on it.
NPR has yet to comment on the situation. Kate Wells shadowed staff at Northland Family Planning in metro Detroit, Michigan, and reported her findings in an extensive article.