Waching daily Feb 14 2017

Lila: What would happen, Ramona, at your facility when a woman would call or come in, who was

pregnant, who was looking for pregnancy related services?

Ramona: There was nothing to offer these women.

Many times I felt that I couldn't help in the way that I wanted to help.

For example, prenatal care: there was no prenatal care.

There was nothing that we could offer women who were pregnant.

There was nothing that we could offer for women seeking fertility treatments, or trying

to—who were trying to conceive.

Again, that's the idea.

You go in with the perception that Planned Parenthood is there to help women in any situation,

not just when they're wanting an abortion.

You think gynecological services.

You think affordable, you know, health care for low-income women, non-insured women.

So I really went in believing "We're just like a gynecologist."

Then you realize, as time goes by, that you're not.

Lila: As a manager of the facility and going in with that kind of—thought of, "Oh,

I can help women with these health needs," how did that make you feel when you would

have to say to these different women, "No, I can't help with that"?

Ramona: I think "disillusioned" is the perfect word.

I've always had this really strong desire to help people who are struggling and that's

really the mantra of Planned Parenthood isn't it?

To help women and to provide these services for women, and "Where are they gonna go

if Planned Parenthood doesn't exist" right?

And so, as you're going through your day-to-day routine and realizing that these women are

encountering real problems that really—you can't help because everything is limited

to contraception and abortion.

Lila: Did you get calls from people seeking services related to pregnancy, like prenatal

care?

And what would you tell them?

Sue: We would have women that—even women that would come in, and they'd have, say,

a breast lump.

Well, we—there was nothing we could do about that.

We'd have to refer them out.

Or an abnormal pap smear.

You know, anything like that.

We didn't do mammograms.

You know, there was the whole mammogram flap, where, Cecile Richards was saying, you know,

"Thousands of women are gonna lose their access to mammograms."

Well, Planned Parenthood—there is not a Planned Parenthood in the country that's ever

done a mammogram.

But that's just one example of something that they say they do to help women, but they've

never, ever done that.

And same with, you know, prenatal care and adoption and, you know, all these things that

women need.

And of course, the reason that adoption and prenatal care weren't hit hard is, there's

no money in that.

You know, they made their money if somebody had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility.

Lila: And so no prenatal care quota?

Sue: No.

Lila: No adoption quota?

Sue: Nope.

Only abortion.

Lila: Only abortion.