A number of groups that advocate for reproductive rights and equality for all women have stayed silent following allegations that Planned Parenthood mistreats and discriminates against pregnant women.
Three groups and multiple individuals did not respond Friday to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment about the allegations, staying silent instead.
Their silence follows claims of discrimination levied by more than a dozen women in a Thursday New York Times article.
A Planned Parenthood employee at a clinic in New Rochelle, New York, said her manager ignored her doctor-recommended requests for breaks while she was pregnant, asked her to delay maternity leave and pressed her to return to work early, TheNYT reported. A medical assistant at the clinic was fired in May the same day she returned from maternity leave, according to a former human resources manager.
“It was looked down upon for you to get pregnant,” said former Planned Parenthood employee Carolina Delgado, who worked at a clinic in Miami until 2012.
Whole Woman’s Health (WWH), an abortion organization that operates clinics across the nation, told TheDCNF in an email that it would “be in touch if the organization would like to respond.” WWH did not contact TheDCNF further.
The Women’s March, a group that “exists to fight bigotry and discrimination in all their forms,” according to its mission statement, also did not respond to TheDCNF’s requests for comment. Women’s March co-President Tamika Mallory as well as board member Linda Sarsour remained silent.
The Women’s March head of communications also chose not to respond to TheDCNF.
Reproductive health equity must include the right to become a parent and raise a family free from fear and discrimination. At @PPFA, we’re committed to doing better to support our pregnant and parenting staff. https://t.co/7g4gr1R697
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) December 20, 2018
The former director of Planned Parenthood’s clinical services in White Plains in New York, Tracy Webber, sued the organization in 2009 for discrimination, TheNYT reported. She was fired four weeks after giving birth. (RELATED: Former Planned Parenthood Workers Says Medication Abortions ‘Far More Dangerous’ Than Surgical Abortions)
Supervisors discriminated against pregnant job candidates, according to a former hiring manager at a Planned Parenthood in California. Pregnant mothers working at the abortion organization did not get promoted, the former manager claimed.
Planned Parenthood will investigate the allegations, according to a Thursday tweet from its president, Leana Wen. The organization will also launch a “major new initiative to review and revamp our parental leave policies … to find pathways for expanding leave benefits,” according to Wen.
NARAL Pro-Choice America, a group that fights to protect and expand reproductive freedom, also chose not to reply to TheDCNF’s request for comment.
Forty-nine of Planned Parenthood’s 55 regional offices don’t provide paid maternity leave, according to TheNYT.
Pro-life group And Then There Were None (ATTWN) offers 12 weeks paid parental leave, a spokesman told TheDCNF in an email Friday. The group dedicates itself to helping women leave the abortion industry.
“The New York Times article reminds us of the abiding and widespread inequity in American workplaces,” according to a Planned Parenthood statement emailed to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Too many workers are not receiving emotional and material security for themselves and their families. This is an issue of equity, health, and justice.”
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