A mother of four on welfare describes how Planned Parenthood refused to provide her with any medical services unless she agreed to be sterilized:
“Lydia Jones, a title X and Medicaid eligible welfare mother of 4, went to the Planned Parenthood clinic near her home and discovered that “free” government programs could be a good news /bad news proposition. “They told me that if I wanted to take advantage of their medical services I would have to undergo sterilization,” she said. “The counselor just kept lecturing me about how I needed to do this, and that I should’ve done it a long time ago. She told me that my children were a burden to society. Well, let me tell you, I love my children. And they are a burden to no one. My 2 oldest are in college, working their way through. The other 2 are straight A students and bound for scholarships. I may be poor, and I may be black, but I’m not going to be bullied by these people into despising the heritage God’s given me,” Lydia walked out – a rare exception.”
George Grant Grand Illusions: the Legacy of Planned Parenthood (Franklin, Tennessee: Adroit Press, 1988, 1992 )101
Jones is not the only African American mother to be pressured to get an abortion/sterilization by Planned Parenthood or other abortion clinics. Pro-choice authors Rayna Rapp and Rosalind Pollack Petchesky comment on it as well. See here for more information about abortion clinics and racism.
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