“Abortion stops a beating heart” has long been a poignant rallying cry for the pro-life movement. Abortion rights advocates often characterize the unborn as an impersonal “clump of cells” that a woman may choose to do with whatever she wants. But even as the House of Representatives plans a January 22 (Roe v. Wade anniversary) vote on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, it turns out the leading abortion provider in the nation matter-of-factly acknowledges on its website that some abortions involve stopping a beating heart.

According to Planned Parenthood’s own description of fetal development, an unborn child’s heartbeat begins around two to three weeks after egg fertilization, or weeks five and six of the pregnancy [highlight added]: