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Posted on 10/06/2002 10:36:07 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Inside Look at the Clinic
A lawsuit filed by the United States Justice Foundation on August 12 is offering a rare view of the Encinitas Planned Parenthood clinic. Former Planned Parenthood employee Megan Allen, 36, is suing Planned Parenthood of San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles counties for unfair business practices and wrongful termination. Allen's suit contends that she was fired after she pointed out problems at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Encinitas. Allen claims that her lawsuit is not about abortion but about the safety of women. According to Allen's complaint, which was filed in Riverside Superior Court, Planned Parenthood is engaging in giving "themselves an unlawful competitive advantage over other similar facilities such as Family Planning Associates and private practitioners" by using unlicensed personnel to perform medical procedures involving abortion.
In an early September interview, Allen's lawyer, Richard Ackerman, said, "No competent medical practitioner would engage in the conduct alleged in the Allen complaint." Ackerman pointed out when Planned Parenthood asked her about her views on abortion, "She told Planned Parenthood that the government had no right to tell a woman what to do with her body. She is no pro-life activist."
Ackerman noted that Planned Parenthood's lack of medical standards is endangering women who come to their clinics. Practices such as re-capping needles "can spread disease from patient to patient." Planned Parenthood does not require that women who come to their clinics have informed consent about getting an abortion. "Not making sure that a patient has informed consent because they can't speak the language, is immoral and unethical. Planned Parenthood does not have personnel who could assist women from the Asian community or women from Eastern Bloc countries." Ackerman said that one patient who spoke Russian came into the Encinitas clinic, and no one at the clinic could speak her language. "They told her 'don't worry about it,' and proceeded to perform the abortion." Ackerman claims that in his previous work as medical malpractice lawyer, "I've sued guys for less than this and won. I've lost Medical Board cases for less than this," he said about the pending litigation against Planned Parenthood. "Particularly like in this case where you have unlicensed personal dispensing drugs, you can't do that."
Allen offered the most telling picture of the inner workings of the Encinitas Planned Parenthood clinic. In a telephone interview, Allen noted that often the young women who come to the clinic seeking an abortion are "scared to death when they come in; sometimes they can't talk, they are crying, and they are shaking." After the women are prepped for surgery, said Allen, "They are left in a room for hours, lined up like cattle next to each other. They have IVs in them but no one asks them if they are okay or if they need anything." When asked why the women are lined up, Allen responded, "Because they [the clinic] can only afford one doctor, they stack them up side by side and the doctor runs in from one room to another performing abortions."
Allen said that the demeanor of the doctors towards the women was callous. "Dr. Moran was one of the doctors I worked with," she said, referring to Thomas Patrick Moran of Escondido. According to one San Diego pro-life activist, Moran "has been around San Diego for many years. He used to work in Coronado at Sharp hospital. Until he went to work for Planned Parenthood we considered him to be a minor abortionist, he did abortions out of his office. His employment with Planned Parenthood has made him a prominent abortionist. In San Diego we have a lot of abortionists who say they do abortions but they charge a lot of money so no one can afford them. Moran seemed to be one of those doctors who seemed to do a few abortions but not a whole lot."
According to Allen, the clinic had a second doctor working at the Encinitas clinic earlier this year. "The other doctor was so cold with the patients," she said. "If the women cried out in pain, he would just give them a dirty look. If they would scream too much, he would grasp their leg and yell at them, 'you have to be quiet!'"
Allen said that many women would cry when their cervix was being widened in order to perform the abortion. "It's a painful procedure, it causes very bad cramps, and they would cry out." When asked if pain medication was given to the women, Allen replied, "The medicine would not take the pain away; they would squirm during the abortion and be really upset."
Allen said that the atmosphere at the clinic did not allow for objections. "It's kind of cliquish at the clinic, you don't feel you can be yourself or speak out about anything that is wrong. If you do, you get dirty looks from the others. It was really uncomfortable to see what they are doing."
Allen recounted how little time the women are given to rest after having an abortion. "They get 15 minutes in recovery and they are booted out so the next group can come in." Allen said that Planned Parenthood has a brisk business. "In that clinic alone they had twenty-five to thirty clients a day, Tuesday to Saturday. That's the Encinitas clinic alone," she commented.
In spite of the alleged misconduct by Planned Parenthood, the clinic enjoys a lot of support. Howard Putnam, who protests at the Encinitas Planned Parenthood every third Saturday, said that protestors are harassed by passersby. "Encinitas is very hostile, people throw stuff at us. About a year ago, I was assaulted by someone, and I tried to get the Encinitas police department to follow up. They asked me to drop the charges against the guy who assaulted me because they said there was insufficient evidence against him." Putnam says that he has pictures of the incident but that was not enough. The assault was so egregious that "a couple of staff members actually told me they would serve as witnesses for me."
Wrong, it is not because they can only afford one butcher, it is because abortion doctors are considered the scum of the profession and very very few doctors are willing to become known as abortionist.
You have to ask yourself these questions: "Would you want to associate with an abortionist?" "Would you want a doctor that did abortions any where near your wife or kids?" "Would you even want one living in your neighborhood?" And finally, "After paying the dollars that it cost for med school, would you want your son or daughter being and abortionist?"
Abortionist are pond scum baby killers that can not practice any other kind of medicine. They are the losers and flunkies of medical schools, the ones that can't get a job any where else!
NY's Eliot Spitzer oversees women's centers. I wonder how someone like him would handle the Encinitas Planned Parenthood clinic.
New York state probes pro-life centers
Case ultimately could lead to shutdown of crisis pregnancy movement (January 15, 2001)An investigation of crisis pregnancy centers by New York state's top law officer could lead to the demise of the nationwide movement, according to anti-abortion activists.
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