... the horror of bringing forth a child into the world during the days before abortion was the law of the land.

The tale of pre-Roe woe appears nearly midway through "We Are Planned Parenthood," a video meant to lure teens on MySpace towards Planned Parenthood of NYC's doors. And it's clear PPNYC wants minority teens; nearly all the youths in the extended commercial are of color, which should be no surprise to those who know Planned Parenthood's propensity for selling abortion to nonwhites.

The video's white faces are older women like the host, a laughably breathy Blythe Danner, and Dr. Maureen Paul, PPNYC's chief medical officer. If the video can be said to have an emotional heart, Paul is it, for her story is intended to convey the horror of life before legal abortion. Instead, it just shows the outrageous self-centeredness of a woman who, faced with the consequences of her sexual decision, chose to act as a self-styled Angel of Death for others in the same position.

Here is Paul's speech in its entirety:

"Like many women in my generation, I had an unintended pregnancy when I was a teenager. It was 1968 and and it was prior to the legalization of Roe v. Wade. So I faced the back alleys of America at that time and decided not to have an illegal abortion because I couldn't afford it and because I was afraid that I would die. And so I carried a pregnancy to term against my will and was forced to adopt the child out and it was an incredibly painful experience for me. So that every time I see a patient today, every time I look into the eyes of a woman who is seeking birth control or who has an unintended pregnancy, I know that the work that we do here is really helping to save lives."

Got that?

Paul got pregnant during the free-love era, "like many women in [her] generation." She was scared at the prospect of an illegal abortion, so she had the child and "was forced" to give it up for adoption. (Her language and manner does not suggest that anyone was holding a gun to her head. Most likely, she was simply eager to get into medical school unencumbered by an out-of-wedlock kid.) It was "incredibly painful."

Apparently, the good doctor does not believe that abortion is even more incredibly painful. So, instead of devoting her life to helping unwed mothers, she instead devotes it to "helping to save lives" — obviously not the children's lives. Never mind that her own life and career did not end with her giving up her own child for adoption.

How incredibly selfish. Paul's adoption was painful — well, boo hoo hoo. She should have thought of that before she had sex. Surely she was smart enough, even as a teenager, to know where babies come from.

So, maybe Paul had pain for a day or week or year or decade. She was still alive. Meanwhile, her baby too may be, God willing, alive today — because of the sacrifice that his or her mother now regrets.

Paul is the same abortionist who gave a memorably chilling performance when testifying in 2004 in a test case against the partial-birth abortion ban:

Excerpts from direct examination of Dr. Paul:

Q. And when you begin the evacuation, is the fetus ever alive?
A. Yes.

Q. How do you know that?
A. Because I do many of my procedures especially at 16 weeks under an ultrasound guidance,
so I will see a heartbeat.

Q. Do you pay attention to that while you are doing the abortion?
A. Not particularly. I just notice sometimes.

Q. Okay. Does it every come out completely without the head becoming lodged?
A. Rarely it does.

Q. And you had said that sometimes when you apply traction to the fetus it comes out intact up
to point where the calvarium lodges; is that correct?
A. Yes.

Q. In that circumstance, what do you do to complete the procedure?
A. Well, there are two things you can do. You can disarticulate at the neck, or what I prefer to
do is to just reach in with my forceps and collapse the skull and bring the fetus out intact.

Q. You testified earlier, Dr. Paul, that the fetus can be alive when the evacuation begins; is that
correct?
A. That's right.

Q. When in the course of the abortion does the fetus -- does fetal demise occur?
A. I don't know for sure. I certainly know that if I deliver intact and collapse the skull that
demise occurs.

Excerpts from the U.S. government's cross-examination of Dr. Paul:

Q. In performing a D&E at 20 weeks gestational age and above, in your previous capacity, was
there ever a time when you saw any indication that the fetus was experiencing pain?
A. I have no idea what that means.