An anonymous Planned Parenthood worker called in to a Christian radio show asking if God could ever forgive her for working in an abortion facility. The radio show host, Dr. Michael Brown, assured her that God would forgive her but urged her to immediately quit her job.
One of the things the Planned Parenthood employee spoke to Brown about was the type of “counseling” women received at her facility. She said:
We have a process before [women are] even taken back to see a physician where we go over options, but it’s just very quick, like, you know your options are… To carry the fetus to term, give it for adoption, or have an abortion. Are you sure about your decision? That’s the extent that it goes.
Legally, the facility must ask women if they want to see an ultrasound. Some women refuse to look. Others do, and decide against abortion. But because they leave with their problems unaddressed, they often come back later. They may be poor, abandoned by their boyfriends or families, unable to find a place to live, alone, and frightened of the future. Planned Parenthood does nothing to help the woman when she decides to carry to term. They only do abortions. Women who choose against abortion are pushed out the door. They are on their own.
Pregnancy resource centers, on the other hand, work to address the problems in the pregnant woman’s life. They provide everything from housing to baby items to free diapers and maternity clothes, to referrals for medical care. They walk with the woman through her pregnancy and help her as best they can with all her needs.
Not only does Planned Parenthood not help women who choose against abortion, staff refuse to send them to people who can help. The Planned Parenthood worker says:
But I feel that they should spend more time going over options and maybe giving out pamphlets, because we have a lot of local people that will help, a lot of pro-life people. We have protesters and things like that and I know the term “protester” sounds negative but our protesters are actually really nice people – I buy them hot chocolate. They’re not bad people and they’re willing to tell them where things are, but we just brush it over.
Even though help is right outside the facility, women leave without being able to access any of the services and support pro-lifers can offer.
Also, the Planned Parenthood worker paints a very different picture of pro-lifers than pro-choice organizations often do. These protesters are not yelling at women or calling them murderers. They are nice to the abortion workers and are there to offer women support.
The Planned Parenthood worker goes on to talk more about the “counseling”:
Some women come in, and they say they’re not sure and it’s almost like sometimes, not all the time, sometimes some doctors will almost push for them to get the abortion. And they’ll say well ultimately it’s your decision, but they put too much emphasis on the positive effects of the abortion. Like, you’ll have more time to yourself to maybe make a better decision when you’re older and ready or in a better situation. It’s almost like it’s pushed for. And it’s, it’s almost glorified – it’s sick.
She offers a reason why Planned Parenthood “pushes’ for abortion:
Honestly it [abortion] is what brings in the money. There’s thousands a day that we do. We don’t do it every day, there’s just certain days of the week. But it’s very lucrative. It’s very lucrative. In one day I could buy a car.
The Planned Parenthood worker’s depiction of the “counseling” women receive has been substantiated by many women who went to Planned Parenthood considering abortion.
A woman named Patti M. said Planned Parenthood told her that her baby was “just tissue.”
Jessica Gore, from Texas, wrote about seeing her baby on the ultrasound screen at a pregnancy resource center, after going to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood told her that her baby was a “piece of tissue.”:
I had already been to Planned Parenthood and thought that abortion was right for me. But when I looked at the sonogram screen, I knew that I had been lied to. What I saw on the screen was not a ‘piece of tissue’ like Planned Parenthood had told me. The tiny flicker of light, a heartbeat, was my child. I was instantly in love.
READ: Former Planned Parenthood workers tell of coercion and lies in abortion ‘counseling’
She had her baby, and the pregnancy center helped her after the birth.
Lynn Zent, now a pro-life sidewalk counselor, was talked into aborting her baby by Planned Parenthood years ago:
Originally it was a wanted baby, but the counselor said ‘why don’t you come back in a few weeks and we will talk?’ When I went back she proceeded to fill my head with things such as ‘You are so young’, ‘You have your whole life ahead of you’, and ‘You have a young child already’. She convinced me how difficult it would to be in school with a new baby and going through a then divorce from my first husband.
She had the abortion and now deeply regrets it.
These and other stories show that Planned Parenthood does not give fair and accurate counseling to women considering abortion. They often pressure women to have abortions. The Planned Parenthood worker in this article believes it is because abortion is a big money-maker for the organization.
