Category: Former Clinic Worker: Rhyan

Former Planned Parenthood worker: Abortion calls took priority

In an article in The American Feminist, former Planned Parenthood worker Rhyan explained how Planned Parenthood prioritized calls from women seeking abortions.

From the article:

The sales began with the automated answering system that picked up all calls first. The pleasant, recorded voice invited callers to press one number if they wanted birth control, another for a well woman exam, and another for abortion. All abortion calls were automatically jumped to the front of the calling queue.

Rhyan added that “If you were calling for birth control, you could wait 20 minutes to get a phone operator.” “Closing the sale” on abortions was also supported by Planned Parenthood’s policy of requiring callers to set an appointment prior to discussing costs.

Ellen J Reich “An Insider’s Look into the Abortion Industry”  The American Feminist Fall/Winter 2016

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Planned Parenthood only offered abortion financial aid to Black women

Rhyan worked at Planned Parenthood for 4 months. She was featured in an article in The American Feminist. Her job was scheduling abortions. She was told to offer financial aid only to Black women. Here is an excerpt from The American Feminist:

[Rhyan] soon observed that she was supposed to screen and offer [financial] assistance to callers “who sounded “hood” or “ghetto” – but not to ask callers who sounded “white or preppy” if they might need financial assistance. This was never explicitly stated, Rhyan said, but, “I’m human. I can figure out the pattern.” Her supervisor would listen to calls; anytime she offered financial screening to a client who sounded white or “Valley girl,” her boss would say, Why did you ask her that? “I realized it was a certain type of person they were asking me to screen,” Rhyan said. They were expecting to schedule about 40 abortions daily, so if the client sounded black, Rhyan, who is black, would hurry up and screen her to keep calls moving.

She says:

“I woke up one day and realized I was no different than a slave trader.”

Planned Parenthood offered financial aid to African Americans for abortion, but not for any other service.

Rhyan also called Planned Parenthood “Plantation Parenthood” in the article.

Ellen J Reich “An Insider’s Look into the Abortion Industry” The American Feminist Fall/Winter 2016

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