Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
AUSTIN WOMEN’S HEALTH CENTER
1902 S. I.H. 35
AUSTIN, TX 78704
512-443-2888
TAPE – 838
(Dialing, phone did not ring)
CLINIC: (Unclear) Women’s Health Center. This is Veronica. How may I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: Yes, ma’am.
CALLER: Do you know how much it cost for that?
CLINIC: Do you know where you’re at in the pregnancy?
CALLER: No. How do you know?
CLINIC: Do you know the first day of your last period?
CALLER: January 15th.
CLINIC: January 15th is the first day of your last period?
CALLER: I didn’t hear what you said.
CLINIC: January 15th was the first day of your last period?
CALLER: Yes.
CLINIC: Okay. I could estimate that you are around seven to eight weeks.
CALLER: What?
CLINIC: I can estimate that you could be seven to eight weeks pregnant. If you’re under 12 weeks in your pregnancy, the cost would be 425.
CALLER: 425?
CLINIC: Yes, ma’am. Also, if you have a negative blood type, it’s going to be an extra $50 because we have to give you a medication called Rhogam.
CALLER: I’m just kind of worried. My boyfriend said that he would pay cash for everything. But I’m just worried because I’m going to be 14 later on this month, and my friend told me that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22, and he said he would take care of it all. Would that be okay, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: How old are you?
CALLER: I’m going to be 14 on the 19th.
CLINIC: And you don’t want to tell your parents?
CALLER: I can’t tell my parents.
CLINIC: And your boyfriend’s how old?
CALLER: Twenty-two.
CLINIC: Well, there are a few options if you don’t want to tell your parents. You can get a judicial bypass.
CALLER: What is that?
CLINIC: Hold on just a moment.
(Pause)
RECORDING: — calling. We apologize for placing you on hold. We know that your time is valuable and hope to be with you shortly.
(Pause)
CLINIC: Thank you for holding. This is Amy. How can I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Are you who I was talking to before?
CLINIC: No. Was somebody already helping you?
CALLER: Yeah, I was talking to Veronica.
CLINIC: Okay. I’m sorry. Hold on one moment.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Thanks for holding. This is Kit (sp). Veronica tells me that you are wanting to know about judicial bypass. Is that right?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Yeah. Okay. What I can tell you is — do you have any questions about the actual law in Texas? Do you understand about that a little bit?
CALLER: I just don’t want to tell my parents.
CLINIC: Okay. That’s fine. You don’t need to. The law does protect you from needing to tell your parents. What is required by the state of Texas is that your parents are informed; they don’t need to give consent. And if you want to bypass that, the state is required to give you a free lawyer who represents you at a local court.
Do you live in Travis County or do you live in a different county?
CALLER: I live in Austin.
CLINIC: You live in Austin. Okay. So you live in Travis County. There’s an organization called Jane’s Due Process. Have you heard about them?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: What they do is they specifically are set up to help young women like you to find the representation that you deserve and need. Okay?
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: So you don’t need to pay anything. And it happens pretty fast. I’m going to give you their number, and they’ll set you up with what is called a — you don’t need to write it down or anything, but just so when you hear this name, and you’re like, oh, yeah, Kit told me about that at the clinic. It’s called a “guardian litem.” And it’s like a fancy Latin word, for basically meaning someone who represents you in court. And when you go to court it’s a really brief visit. But the guardian litem is going to be there to sort of walk you through it and kind of hold your hand. Okay?
CALLER: Well, would the judge say that it’s okay then?
CLINIC: Uh-huh, yeah. You just have to answer some questions and have an appointment set up with us and stuff like that. Sometimes they’ll recommend that you had come in and visit with us first before you go meet with a judge so that you understand about the procedure and everything. So we can set up an appointment for you for what we can a pre-operative visit, where you get your ultra sound and your lab work and your counseling. And then you’ll be all informed and know what to expect and everything. And then in the next day, you would go and meet with your guardian litem, and then you get some paperwork done. And then you come back to us like the following day. So it all happens within a 24 to 48-hour period.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Are you in high school or are you out of school?
CALLER: I’m homeschooled.
CLINIC: Okay. And how old are you?
CALLER: I’m going to be 14 on the 19th.
CLINIC: Okay. What I can do —
CALLER: My boyfriend and me were talking about all this. And he said he would pay cash for everything. But we don’t want anyone to know about us. Would he have to sign anything or fill out any forms if he was paying for it all?
CLINIC: No, uh-uh. No. If you’re paying cash, we just give you a receipt for yourself. But there would be no way — no one would ever be able to find out that you were there is simply what I’m telling you.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Yeah. We don’t give that information out to any other people or company, and no one like your parents or anybody would be able to find out that you had come here.
CALLER: Well, I haven’t had a pregnancy test yet. Would you guys do that beforehand just to make sure I am pregnant?
CLINIC: Yeah. I would recommend that. Are you feeling like you’re pregnant? Do you know —
CALLER: Well, I just haven’t had my period since January 15th, and we’re just both really scared.
CLINIC: Yeah. Okay. Well, what I can tell you is that we offer free pregnancy tests here. So if you want to come in and get a pregnancy test, you can do that for free.
CALLER: Well, how late are you guys there, like tomorrow?
CLINIC: Tomorrow you could come in any time until probably about 5:00 for a pregnancy test. I’m going to give you Jane’s Due Process’ information, so you can call them.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Have you taken a pregnancy — do you have access to getting to the pharmacy and getting a pregnancy test?
CALLER: Well, my boyfriend could — yeah.
CLINIC: Do that for you? Okay.
CALLER: But are those usually right though?
CLINIC: Yeah, they’re usually really right. Usually if it’s going to come back positive, like on an EPT test, it’s going to be correct.
CALLER: Well, if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control from you guys?
CLINIC: Yeah, definitely. Uh-huh. We’ll set up an appointment for an annual exam. Have you had a pap smear, an annual exam?
CALLER: No. How much does it cost for that?
CLINIC: It’s between 75 and $125.
CALLER: But would anybody have to know if I was on birth control though?
CLINIC: Nope. Nobody would have to know.
I’m going to give you their 866 number.
CALLER: Just so that I understand, you’re sure no one would have to know about any of this?
CLINIC: Nobody has to know about any of this.
CALLER: They wouldn’t have to know about me and my boyfriend either?
CLINIC: No, they don’t need to know about you and your boyfriend.
CALLER: Okay. Well, what was the number?
CLINIC: Yeah. It’s 1-866-999-5263.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: And you call them, and they can start getting you in the process. And I would recommend — you could set up an appointment with me, if you’d like — with us — to have your pre-operative visit with us. In that visit, the first thing we’ll do is do a pregnancy test.
CALLER: Okay. Well, let me call my boyfriend to see what time is good for him, and then call you back. Is that all right?
CLINIC: Okay. Let me tell you the fees to let him know that the cost of a pre-operative visit with us is $180. The cost of the abortion is $425 if you’re under 12 weeks of pregnancy. The 180 is subtracted from the 425. So when you come back, it’s like 245.
CALLER: Oh, all right.
CLINIC: Just so you have that, so you can tell him about that. Then you can give us a call back when you’re ready.
CALLER: Okay. Thank you.
CLINIC: You’re welcome.
CALLER: Bye.
CLINIC: Bye.
***END***