Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson’s book, “The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories,” contains the testimony of one former clinic worker who saw firsthand how willing her Planned Parenthood facility was to protect a woman’s pimp, even when it was clear the woman was being physically abused.
In the essay titled, “A Special Place in Hell,” a clinic worker writes about a woman named Diane, who was a prostitute and a frequent client at the facility.
For over ten years, Diane had been coming to Planned Parenthood regularly. As the clinic worker points out, she had four separate charts that were “dogeared and falling apart.”
The former clinic worker describes Diane’s visits:
Almost without fail, when we saw Diane she would be infected with one STD or another. We knew that she had a pimp. Typically she would have bruises all over her body, sometimes a black eye or a split lip or a gash in her arm. Many of us assumed that these wounds were inflicted by her pimp, or perhaps the culprit was one of her customers. But we never asked…
The clinic’s unofficial position on prostitution was identical to its stance concerning abortion. A woman had the right to choose what she did with her body. Period. End of story. We were trained to think that prostitution or stripping was as valid a choice for a woman as being a nurse or a lawyer. We were there to treat their recurrent STDs, abort their babies, and send them on their way. Never were we to “judge” their lifestyles.”
The problem with this “nonjudgmental” attitude was that it was clear as day that Diane was in a deeply unhealthy situation. Repeated STDs, extensive physical abuse — these things would concern any legitimate health care provider. But Planned Parenthood, in its effort to promote sexual freedom, allowed Diane’s abuse to continue.
The former clinic worker describes one day when Diane came to the facility, accompanied by her pimp:
One day Diane came into the clinic escorted…by her pimp.…This guy would terrify Rambo. He was a giant of a man…
Diane cowered at his side, bruised and battered as usual. She seemed so childlike and frail in his presence. It was obvious that he had complete control over her. We got her in and out as quickly as possible that day.
It should have been clear to the Planned Parenthood workers that Diane was being exploited. Her obvious injuries and fearful attitude were red flags showing that she was not participating in the sex trade of her own free will. Her obvious fear of her abusive pimp should have prompted the facility to take steps to protect her. But the facility ignored her plight. They were happy to take the pimp’s money and send Diane back to the street.
The former clinic worker goes on to say:
After she left the clinic that day, I turned over in my mind all the times she had come to the clinic with obvious signs of physical abuse covering her from head to toe, flashing like a neon sign.… We never showed any real warmth or compassion to Diane. She was treated like a child – a dullard that we were forced to deal with. At best, she was regarded with cold indifference.…
The day her pimp brought her to the clinic, the realization that he was the only one that we had really been protecting struck me.
Every one of her black eyes or busted lips cried out to us, begging us to care. But we failed to even ask the most basic questions because we didn’t want to judge her way of life. She left the clinic that day, most certainly returning to a life of cruelty and endless days of servicing men for a paltry sum paid directly to her controlling pimp.
It is clear that Planned Parenthood failed Diane. What is unknown is how many other “Dianes” there are. How many women are Planned Parenthood allowing to be exploited? How many pimps are they helping? How many women and girls are suffering from their indifference? How long before we cut taxpayer funding to an organization that protects pimps and helps them exploit women?
In its sting videos, Live Action has documented multiple situations in which Planned Parenthood workers were willing to cover up the alleged sex trafficking of minors. Live Action sent a man posing as a pimp into different Planned Parenthood facilities to ask about birth control and abortions for his underage sex slaves. No fewer than seven Planned Parenthood facilities offered to help the alleged pimp and hide his sex ring from the authorities. They were more than willing to ignore and overlook his his claimed exploitation of young women.
In one case, a Planned Parenthood worker even gave the pimp advice on how to better run his sex slave “business”:
Planned Parenthood has shown itself willing to cover up sex trafficking and shield pimps from prosecution, caring more about its image than real care for young girls and women. Former Planned Parenthood manager, Ramona Trevino, shares what happens behind closed doors at Planned Parenthood:
Source: Abby Johnson The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2016) 51-53. Used with permission by the author.
