About how much does an abortion cost on average? I know it probably varies based upon procedure and location, but I don't even know a ball park figure. Is the average cost like $200 or $1,000? Are there usually income based sliding scales? Are most clinic cash only or accept credit cards?
I’m not sure about this. He did resign from board positions, which I guess was a good step not to taint the organizations. I’m 100% a victims advocate and I like to believe women. However in my personal life right now I know a man being accused by a woman for sexual assault and it’s false and he’s going through litigation to prove it because he has the receipts and the false accusations have essentially ruined his career. So not every case is black and white.
When everything first came out in my circles we discussed it online after reading both sides/accounts and it was a pretty mixed bag of reactions and no one has talked about it since. I don’t know him personally but I know many of my colleagues do. Sorry I wish I had a better/more concrete answer.
And to clarify I believe there is only 1 abortion clinic left in MS, but other doctors do work at that one clinic besides him. At least last I checked that’s how it was.
Yes, sorry he isn't the only one in MS, that's absolutely correct, that should have said one of the only.
Yamani Hernandez (ED NNAF) came out about sexual harassment Dr Parker directed towards her last week, the conversation hasn't stopped. It's not just Candice and based on what I've heard in my circles (I've been doing abortion work for 15 years - not as a provider), people have been aware of multiple instances and people he's sexually harassed for a number of years, he's just been too big and important for anyone to do anything. Saying you believe survivors then going into talking about a guy being falsely accused and how people seemed mixed on what they thought does not feel at all like you believe the women who have come forward.
We say believe survivors every time and yet, when it's someone "on our side" accused they get the same protections every other poorly behaved man gets. We just stop talking about it and hope it will go away. We need to do better, we need to be better.
I had a response typed up, but I don't want to take away from the point of this thread. I will just say that I didn't know about more than 1 accuser, than you for sharing that information with me. I didn't claim to be on his side, just that I hadn't heard any further information. I hope that justice is served. I will continue to do my advocacy work in reproductive care and justice.
About how much does an abortion cost on average? I know it probably varies based upon procedure and location, but I don't even know a ball park figure. Is the average cost like $200 or $1,000? Are there usually income based sliding scales? Are most clinic cash only or accept credit cards?
Where I've trained and worked the pill and first trimester procedure have been from $400-$600 I believe. It goes up from there. Places will work with income restrictions (this varies) or will get funding from one of the abortion funds. Debit or credit cards are accepted.
For the record I am totally pro-choice, at any trimester. It’s a woman’s right, IMO. Just because I had a bad experience doesn’t mean I get the right to say not a good idea based on what happened to me.
That being said, how do you deal with coerced termination?
I had a surgical termination, but it wasn’t what I wanted. My exH (hence the reason he is now my ex) was totally unsupportive. He basically said that we wouldn’t be able to see my family (I lived in Australia at the time), and he didn’t want to waste money on a child. I was totally stuck, so I just decided to terminate. I didn’t want that, though. He was in the room and did all the talking for me.
My question is do you allow partners in the room? Can you see through this type of manipulation? Maybe it’s an odd question, but I’m really curious as to what providers think about this situation.
At my health center since where I do most of my hours since it's just a general clinic we often get to know our patients well. So that's why it's nice to be able to provide there. We generally know if they're in a relationship, if they've been trying to get pregnant, if they have enough food to eat, if they're in a domestic violence situation, if they have a job, etc. But we still have a counseling session with them before the procedure to do our best to make sure it is their decision only and to give them any resources that they might need.
In other places where I've trained and work that are pretty much women's health/abortion clinics only, they all do counseling sessions in which the patient is the only one allowed in the room. Their support person is not allowed in the counseling room with them. This is either down with a trained counselor specifically for this or a licensed social worker everywhere I've worked. In one place we had patients write down answers to certain questions for those that could read and write in either english or spanish and then the counselor would have a more private conversation with them in another room with no one else present. So everywhere I've been the partner would not be able to do any or all of the talking as they wouldn't be in the room. Having the partner doing all the talking would definitely be a big red flag. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Even in regular care if a partner is doing a lot of the talking, I make sure to talk to the patient themselves alone by asking the partner to leave the room for a few min.
One thing we typically tell patients is they don't need to make a decision today, so if they are unsure or have questions they can go home and think about it and we give them resources that they can use to help with their decision. I've had a patient on the exam table ready to start the procedure and she seemed to be getting more and more anxious, so we told her that she could come back when she was feeling more confident in her decision and she decided to do just that.
Lastly, another thing I've learned is how to counsel patients if they want an abortion, but their partner doesn't and they're afraid to tell them if they've already told them they're pregnant. So we will counsel them on talking about it being a miscarriage and things they can do to help so their partner won't find out if that's what they want.
So unfortunately I doubt we'll be able to pick up on every single cause of coercion if the patient doesn't verbally or through body language indicate that that is happening, but through multiple steps in the process we do try to make sure there are no red flags that could indicate they're not confident in their decision or they're being coerced.
Thank you very much for your answer. I’m relieved that you have this process. To a PP who quoted me, it happened in Australia about 10 years ago.He was in the counseling room with me, but not the operation part. I sometimes wish they had seen through things and that I didn’t want it.
I even went back and got my record and his name is all over what was said in the counseling part. I wrote an email to them years later asking if they allow partners in the counseling session and they said no. There were a few email exchanges and when they got my name, they they said, sorry, but Dr so and so is a good doctor. You can take it up with the higher medical board (forgot the name) and file a complaint. I never did, but I’m thinking maybe I should now.
Thanks again for your answer. I’m relieved to hear that you and the staff where you work watch out for these kinds of things. Thank you for your work.
Post by wanderingback on Aug 15, 2019 6:46:54 GMT -5
klingklang77 I'm so sorry about your experience. I think if you're up for it contacting the place again where you had the procedure done would be a good idea. Hopefully they will take your experience seriously and re-evaluate their policies for all staff.
This is something I've often wondered about. How do you find someone to perform an abortion outside of an abortion clinic? Do women just talk to their regular gyn?
At my age and current status (financial, insurance) I would. When I was 20, I'd have looked in the yellow pages, I wouldn't have known about seeing my regular doctor to discuss it and would have likely drive a couple hours to a PP.
When I see news that there is one clinic left in the state, I wonder about availability at day surgery centers or hospitals in that state (which would be options here according to my old gyn).
I’m in MS. We only have one clinic. You can’t get an elective abortion anywhere else.
Also, unless it has changed, they do not have the pills, only surgical abortion, and they don’t perform it until 9 weeks. That all may have changed since 2007, though.
Post by wanderingback on Aug 15, 2019 11:48:39 GMT -5
ridethelightning wow, I wonder why they had those policies back in 2007. 9 weeks is such an arbitrary cut off and usually the earlier the procedure is done the safer it is (although already safe) and technique wise earlier is usually easier. But last I checked their website a few months ago the pill was an option and it mentioned early abortion from 4 weeks. So it seems like their policy has changed for the better.
Post by wanderingback on Jan 3, 2020 13:23:30 GMT -5
I'm bumping this thread because as I'm sure many of you all are aware the landscape for providing abortion care is getting worse and worse. A lot of us are preparing for Roe v Wade to fall.
Here is information from the Center for Reproductive Rights in regards to state by state analysis of what seems likely to happen if/when Roe vs Wade is overturned: reproductiverights.org/what-if-roe-fell
While Planned Parenthood is great, at least 50% of abortion care is provided in facilities that aren't Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood gets A LOT of funding. Donating $5 to a smaller organization a month makes a much bigger difference than donating $5 to a Planned Parenthood. So I would recommend everyone to do their due diligence to find out what your local area needs are. I recommend donating directly to funds that help patients get an abortion.
I would also recommend looking for organizations that are training people to provide abortion care.
I'm actually in the middle of a session right now so don't have time to link to everything I'd like to, but I felt compelled to post this now/asap. I'll likely come back and add some more links or if more people have questions I'll be happy to answer.