Abortion pill dispensary workers from the online website Just the Pill have told their union (JTP Workers United, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World) that the virtual abortion pill company is not paying staff a livable wage. The group profits from abortion pills sold to clients by telemedicine and also by dispensing the drugs via a fleet of mobile vans.
“Several JTP Workers are not be able to afford JTP services on our wage. How is that acceptable?” @JTPWorkers tweeted, adding that “While we are struggling to pay bills & groceries, others at JTP are able to comfortably live. Is our labor less valuable? Is our contribution not good enough to deserve a living wage?”
Statements from additional JTP staff to the union alleged some workers had to take a second job to pay bills while another JTP staffer told the union that stress from the job made them seek “psychiatric help,” claiming that the financial compensation is “not commensurate with the toll it cost my body.” JTP union tweeted a quote from another Just the Pill worker claiming they received a slight pay raise by moving from Planned Parenthood to Just the Pill — but after a year, they were making “less than those I worked with at PP.”
In addition, while one abortion pill dispensary worker claimed she made $23 per hour, @JTPWorkers tweeted, “With inflation&rising costs of living, we are asking 4 a wage that can support us. We don’t want to live paycheck 2 paycheck. We do not want 2 be an emergency away from losing our homes. We want 2 enjoy our life outside our job. We want 2 access healthcare without going into debt.”
“JTP offers health insurance, but we still have to provide copays and pay other out of pocket medical bills to be able to get healthcare. Fully funded insurance is not a reality for us. Especially for those of us that are disabled and have chronic illnesses,” @JTPWorkers tweeted.
Just the Pill History
Just the Pill (JTP) a.k.a. Abortion Delivered was founded in 2020 as a Minnesota not-for-profit and ships abortion drugs in multiple states through pharmacies like Honeybee Health Pharmacy or American Mail Order Pharmacy.
The company’s corporate name is JTP Professional Service Corporation, and records on file with the IRS show an address of 2038 Ford Parkway 444, Saint Paul, MN, 55116. JTP, which has claimed on its website to be the “first clinic to provide telehealth abortion care in the United States,” is a member of the Abortion Care Network and the National Abortion Federation (NAF).
Online information lists Brooke Bailey as JTP’s executive director, but little information about Bailey is given. In addition, JTP’s 2022 990 lists key employees as President Sarah Parr, Treasurer Heidi Halpern, Vice President Susan Schumacher, Secretary Marie Khan, Director Amanda Bennett, Director Jess Braverman, and Executive Director Brooke Bailey. The report also shows JTP’s net assets totaled $1.3 million that same year.
Parr’s LinkedIn page shows she was formerly with Whole Women’s Health (WWH) as well as the Abortion Care Network (ACN) and currently operates Sarah Parr Consulting, LLC.
Unregulated Virtual Abortion Pill Dispensaries
Just the Pill operates virtual as well as mobile abortion pill dispensing units in multiple states, while JTP’s Candid profile claims the abortion pill dispensary is “seeing patients in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming.” The dispensary does not appear to be listed as an abortion facility in the Minnesota Department of Health’s 2022 report or 2021 report, revealing how potentially unregulated virtual abortion pill dispensaries are.
The organization’s medical director (see Twitter and Kareo.com) Julie Amaon, who formerly managed a Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas, recently admitted to Ms. Magazine that the virtual abortion pill dispensary sees “minors in all of our states…” She also claimed her online appointment process takes around 15 minutes while just 50% of her abortion clients do the follow up care.
While unregulated abortion pill dispensaries are increasing since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Just the Pill reportedly went from “20 and 25 requests for abortion pills per day” before Dobbs to 260 requests in the days just after the Dobbs decision. According to JTP’s Facebook page abortion pill clients have “more than doubled” post Dobbs. In addition, the group claims online to have “helped our 6,000+” clients; in other words, those abortion pills likely ended the lives of thousands of preborn children.