Planned Parenthood of Delaware Under Fire: Second Legislative Hearing, July 30, 2013.

"I would urge anyone who has had an STD test at Planned Parenthood to see an outside physician.  If she is positive, I would urge her to seek justice. 

I would urge any woman who has had an abortion at Planned Parenthood to find out if she is Rh negative.  If she is, I would urge her to go to an outside physician to determine if she missed her RhoGAM shot.  If she has, I would urge her to seek justice.

 I would urge any woman who has a colposcopy at Planned Parenthood to get a colposcopy outside of Planned Parenthood.  If she has cervical cancer, I would urge her to seek justice.

 Planned Parenthood of Delaware abused its employees and its patients. … [They]  should be held accountable for their neglectful conduct that has put women in unnecessary danger."

Melody Meanor delivered this message to a packed room at the Chase Center on the Riverfront at the second legislative hearing featuring Planned Parenthood of Delaware (PPDE) whistle blowers, held on July 30, 2013. 

Ms. Meanor is a former Manager of Planning Services at PPDE. She joined fellow whistle blowers Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich and Joyce Vasikonis in telling a shocked public how Planned Parenthood's obsession with bottom-line profits lead to disaster -- a disaster that both PPDE and the State of Delaware continues to downplay.

Audible sighs and groans came from the audience as the three former Planned Parenthood employees painted a picture of slipshod greed that included:

·  Not informing patients of 200 STD tests that had come back positivefor chlamydia, gonorrhea, or both. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are both contagious leaving patients who were not informed of positive results vulnerable to spreading the diseases. 

·  Improper filing and reporting of 87 colposcopies of women who had had an irregular pap smears. By not properly filing results in patient charts and reporting them to patients, patients with irregular pap smears were put at risk that cervical cancer would not be detected.

·  The siphoning off of personnel and resources from the non-abortion services to meet increased demand on the more lucrative abortion side. This included using untrained health care assistants to perform tasks that put them at risk for transfer of and infection by blood-borne pathogens. "For example, the suction equipment at Planned Parenthood that was used during abortions was supposed to be cleaned by Health Care Assistants. I personally saw the Health Care Assistants cleaning the blood and body fluids from the suction equipment without using universal precautions such as goggles or even a face shield. This put the employees at serious risk of contracting a blood borne pathogen." - Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich

·  Delaying informing Rh negative mothers of the need to take RhoGAM injections to prevent danger to mother and child in future pregnancies until patients were on the surgical table. Untrained health care assistants then delivered the news that a $120 injection, payable on the spot, was added to the already-paid cost of the abortion. Women who said they could not pay were marked as "Rejecting RhoGAM injections" although untrained health care assistants were not qualified to explain the importance of the injection to future health, and although this information could have been given before the surgical abortion was performed. But if a young woman walked out of the abortion clinic to seek additional funds, perhaps she would not return?

·  Not informing the State of Delaware when PPDE administrators discovered one of their abortionists performing late-night, illegal abortions. "It is also of great concern to Ms. Vasikonis that Dr. Meyers has also failed to report substandard and unprofessional conduct by yet another Planned Parenthood of Delaware doctor, to wit: Dr. Eric Schaff. Specifically, Dr. Meyers informed Ms. Vasikonis that, during a 2008 inspection of Planned Parenthood of Delaware by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she (Dr. Meyers) discovered that Dr. Schaff, Dr. Meyers' predecessor as the Planned Parenthood of Delaware medical director, was performing illegal and inappropriate after-hours abortions at the Planned Parenthood of Delaware facility and was not using any Planned Parenthood of Delaware medical staff to support these illegal, after-hours abortions. ... While this conduct evidently occurred in 2008, a date prior to the time Ms. Vasikonis was employed at PPDE, Dr. Meyers informed Ms. Vasikonis of these matters and advised her that, while Dr. Schaff had been fired by Planned Parenthood of Delaware, no report had been made to the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation or any other Delaware authority." 

·  Superficial and hurried "options counseling". Ms. Mitchell-Werbrichs had testified at the previous hearing that abortion counseling at Planned Parenthood was "a joke". Ms. Meanor added:  "Abortions were a significant source of revenue at Planned Parenthood of  Delaware.  And, unfortunately, in several ways,Planned Parenthood of Delaware treated abortion much more as a business transaction than as a service to clients. ... Planned Parenthood would rush through properly explaining the pros and cons of receiving an abortion,  which can result in pushing women towards making the life changing decision to have an abortion.  When counseling, I took time with the patient and made sure she really wanted the abortion.  Gloria Johnson criticized me for this practice contending it took too much time."

Let us repeat the words with which Melody Meanor ended her courageous whistle blowing of PPDE, her former employee:

"I would urge anyone who has had an STD test at Planned Parenthood to see an outside physician.  If she is positive, I would urge her to seek justice.

I would urge any woman who has had an abortion at Planned Parenthood to find out if she is Rh negative.  If she is, I would urge her to go to an outside physician to determine if she missed her RhoGAM shot.  If she has, I would urge her to seek justice.

 I would advise any woman who has a colposcopy at Planned Parenthood to get a colposcopy outside of Planned Parenthood.  If she has cervical cancer, I would urge her to seek justice."

Delaware Right to Life urges all pro-life advocates to take this message to heart, and also to take it to the streets. In particular, think about the young people you know -- your daughters and sons, granddaughters and grandsons -- and initiate discussions with them about Planned Parenthood of Delaware. Our young folk are immersed in the world and know what goes on -- ask them if they have a friend who has been getting health care from Planned Parenthood of Delaware. 

If so, advise them to encourage their friends to get re-checked for STDs, by a non-PPDE doctor. If they have had an abortion, encourage them to get checked to see if they are Rh negative and to see if they have received the necessary RhoGAM injections. Gently advise them to come forward, if they have suffered any irregularities at the hands of Planned Parenthood of Delaware.

Do it now. You will be helping to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their deeds.

For video clips of each witness at the hearing, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzt8u-LC34w

For media reports, Google “Planned Parenthood of Delaware” “Melody Meanor” or see:

Steve Ertelt at Lifenews. Has a short video clip with each speaker.