They said it.
Former clinic worker Luhra Tivis, who worked for Dr. George Tiller, stated:
“We were told specifically to coax [pregnant women to have an abortion] by any verbal means available.”
Quoted by Cal Thomas, “Celebrate Life” Oct 1991
Pro-choice author Jennifer Baumgardner, who started the t-shirt campaign “I Had An Abortion” told the story of an abortion patient in her book “Abortion & Life” (New York, NY: Akashic Books, 2008):
“I went with my boyfriend and friend to Planned Parenthood. I think I was headed into my eighth week at that point. I went into a room for pre-abortion counseling- five quick, terse questions. I had assumed that I was going to get a half-hour and I would finally be able to tell someone or talk to someone about how freaked out I was, but I didn’t get to.”
This appears on page 127
Share on FacebookFrom one author who observed the daily operation of an abortion clinic:
“Center staff members commonly said “the pregnancy,” “the tissue,” “the products of conception.” “Fetal tissue” was the most explicit term I heard health workers use with clients.”
Wendy Simonds. Abortion at Work: Ideology and Practice in a Feminist Clinic Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ) 1996. p 80
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Illustrating the fact that women are often ambivalent about getting an abortion, and that counseling is needed, a reporter who observed in an abortion clinic says:
“On this day at the surgical unit of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, in central Philadelphia, 21 people will have abortions. Another two dozen pregnant women will come in to view a video and to “start the clock” on their state-mandated 24-hour waiting period. Most will come back for abortions. Some will never be heard from again…Sometimes, says clinic manager Paula Monastersky, a woman will just get up and leave. Occasionally, a woman will even be undressed and on the table, moments away from the doctor’s instruments, and she’ll change her mind.”
. Linda Feldmann “Abortion: Uneasy Day at the Clinic” Christian Science Monitor, Jan 22 1998, Vol. 90, Issue 39
Share on Facebook“Since Planned Parenthood is the foremost abortion provider in the US, they have a responsibility to tell women the truth about fetal development and subsequent risks involved in pursuing abortion as an option. I know for a fact they do not.”
Former Planned Parenthood counselor
“Federal Register” Vol 53, no. 21. Feb 2 at 397
However:
An article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution discusses a proposed law that would require abortion clinics to offer information about abortion’s risks and fetal development to women. Executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Becky Rafter explained why NARAL opposed the law:
“It’s a ruse to say that clinics do not already have informed consent.”
Carlos Campos “Abortion waiting period approved; Aim to let women change their minds, advocates say” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, GA), March 5, 2005 pA1
She stressed that the law was not needed
Share on FacebookThe same author goes on to state:
“I sensed that no matter how straightforward Center women were with me or with each other about resisting the language barriers erected by antis, they seemed uneasy when clients used tainted words. I found this uneasiness to be contagious; for instance, Hallie and I were silent when the client asked us whether digoxin [a chemical used in second and third trimester abortions] was what “killed the baby.” Center workers found themselves in an awkward position….how might feminists reappropriate tainted language?”
Wendy Simonds. Abortion at Work: Ideology and Practice in a Feminist Clinic Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ) 1996. p 80
An abortion clinic receptionist (Concord Medical Center) was asked if the counselors at the clinic where she worked had formal training:
Her answer:
“No, most people that counsel there did not have much training, before they started working there, that’s the way it worked.”
The Board of Review of the Illinois Department of Employment Security Case # 92-L50928
Share on FacebookThe Department of Health and Human Services, in its “Counseling Adolescents in Reproductive Health Care Settings” notes that when a client experiences anxiety and guilt over her decision to abort, “the counselor may be able to reduce the intensity of the feelings or the possibility of their interfering with commitment to the plans.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, in its Counseling Adolescents in Reproductive Health Care Settings, 1980. Rachel M. MacNair, PhD, Finding Peace in the Abortion War: Predictions on Possible Social Impacts of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Cognitive Dissonance as Structural Stressors
Share on FacebookFeminist Germaine Greer says the following about abortion:
“A ten-week foetus is not pink jelly, but only the woman who loses her baby spontaneously is likely to know how human the tiny creature was and to grieve for it for the rest of her life. Women presenting for abortion…are shielded from grief…and from guilt.”
Germaine Greer “Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility ” Olympic Marketing Corp; Reprint edition (April 1985)
It is often only later, when a woman learns the facts about fetal development, that she begins to feel intense grief and guilt. The abortion clinic may hide the facts about the unborn baby, but they cannot censor everything the woman sees for the rest of her life. Eventually, she will be exposed to the truth – and in the emotional fallout can be agonizing.
Share on FacebookJewels Green, who worked in an abortion clinic for five years, stated that most of the women who came to her clinic had made up their minds that they wanted an abortion. However, she emphasized that some were ambivalent, and that the clinic was not equipped to deal with them. She said clinic counselors had little information to offer on abortion alternatives and that they did not do a through job of counseling. In her own words:
“This is where the pro-choice movement and clinics fail. Sure, we had a little notebook with the names and numbers of two local adoption agencies, but we were never trained or taught how the adoption process works so we could explain it to women. We had the phone number of the local WIC office, public assistance, etc., but again, knew nothing about the process should anyone ever ask for details. If a pregnant woman wanted to learn more about these other choices, the best the “options counselor” could offer was a post-it note with a phone number hastily scribbled on it.”
Kristen Walker “Former abortion clinic worker breaks silence, speaks out for life” LifeSiteNews.com, Thu Jul 21, 2011. Found here Kristen Walker “Former abortion clinic worker breaks silence, speaks out for life” LifeSiteNews.com, Thu Jul 21, 2011.
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