Category: Quotes

“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

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The 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

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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

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The 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

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Jewels 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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In Planned Parenthood’s “The Complete Guide to Pregnancy Testing and Counseling” a hypothetical case is presented where a married woman has agreed to have an abortion, but is having ambivalent feelings. The guide suggests that the counselor:

“Tell her that no one makes the decision to have an abortion easily or ever feels really “good” about it. Acknowledge that feelings of discomfort and sadness are normal. Ask about the reasons for which she and her husband decided on an abortion. Help her to reaffirm that this is the best decision for them right now. Remind her that feelings of guilt, sadness or loss do not mean that a wrong decision was made.”

“The Complete Guide to Pregnancy Testing and Counseling” Planned Parenthood 1985 (p 24-25) quoted in “Achieving Peace in the Abortion War” by Rachel M MacNair, Ph.D., published by the Feminism & Nonviolence Studies Association January 2009.

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In one survey of Planned Parenthood affiliates, clinic workers were asked about whether they could address the adoption issue.  Only 20% felt that adoption should be included as part of Planned Parenthood’s mission statement.

In reply to the question “Should adoption be part of Planned Parenthood’s mission?” some typical responses included:

“No. It would present an apparent and possibly actual conflict of interest. Difficult to finance. Very draining on staff time and overall effort.”

“Only as a referral. It might be very confusing to maintain a pro-choice stance when an agency also is invested in finding an infant to place.”

“I think we have to look very carefully at the issues involved. For our clients, we need to be sure that the information and services we provide are really in their best interest. A pregnant fifteen-year-old should not be seen as the ‘solution’ to an infertile couple’s problems. We need to be very careful not to cast women in the role of ‘baby producers’…”

“We have historically presented adoption as an option in a most matter of fact way without presenting the whole picture. Of those patients who choose adoption, it only makes sense for us to be their means to an end.”

Robert H. Ruff “Aborting Planned Parenthood: Documented Proof of Planned Parenthood’s Systematic Exploitation of Teenagers and Taxpayers” (New York: Life Cycle Books 1988 p 30

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From a report on abortion malpractice cases:

“All too often the abortion counselor has only a high school diploma, has herself had one or two abortions and feels compelled to assist others by affirming the abortion decision. She thereby affirms her own decision, unknown to her and her client. Because she may be in denial about the emotional aftereffects of her own abortion, she is either unaware of post-abortion emotional trauma, or is simply uninformed.”

It also cites the following statistic:

“In the U.S., abortion counselors as a “profession” are unlicensed, and are unregulated in 95% of the States.”

Citing a number of studies, the article goes on to state:

“Several empirical studies in the U.S. have indicated the deficiencies of current abortion counseling practices with the majority of respondents reporting insufficient information provided by the abortion counselor; insensitive, unhelpful abortion clinic personnel, with respect to providing assistance in decision-making, and the provision of misinformation, thereby contributing to increased anxiety, confusion and levels of post-abortion depression and hostility”

“Abortion Malpractice: When Patient Needs and Abortion Practice Collide” Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change. Research Bulletin Vol. 9 No.1 November/December 1995. http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/air/air_vol9no1_1995.html#a24 See Barnard, C. (1990), The Long Term Psychological Effects of Abortion, Portsmouth, NH: Institute for Pregnancy Loss; and Vaughan, H. (1990), Canonical Variates of Post-Abortion Syndrome, Portsmouth, NH: Institute for Pregnancy

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Abortionist Dr. Don Sloan:

“So we have these centers where patients are counseled, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a thorough job. The counseling is less than might be desirable at times…For someone performing abortions, the volume can be so great it’s overwhelming. I’ve sent out tens and tens of thousands of women, and I know so little about so many of them- most of them. How could I? In a sense, the doctor is only a tradesperson, a technician performing a task, like any other…There are many times- frequently, in fact, and I do to this very day- when I will get a referral to do an abortion on a woman I’ve never seen, will see only for those fleeting minutes of the termination, and then never seen again. That scenario isn’t peculiar to me- it goes with the territory.”

Don Sloan, M.D. and Paula Hartz. Choice: A Doctor’s Experience with the Abortion Dilemma. New York: International Publishers 2002 p 103

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