Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
CHOICE MEDICAL CENTER
SAN JOSE, CA 95116
408-272-9244
TAPE – 712
(Dialing, phone ringing)
CLINIC: Good afternoon. Thank you for calling Choice Medical. Could you hold, please?
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Can I help you?
CALLER: Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: Yes, we do.
CALLER: Okay. Well, do you know how much it cost for that?
CLINIC: How far along are you?
CALLER: Well, I’m not really sure. I just haven’t had my period since January 3rd.
CLINIC: Okay. If you’re less than 12 weeks, it’s going to be $575.
CALLER: Okay. So how do you know if you are or not?
CLINIC: According to your last menstrual period. You said it was January what?
CALLER: 3rd.
CLINIC: So right now I have you somewhere about nine weeks.
CALLER: Oh, okay. How much did you say it was then? I’m sorry.
CLINIC: $575.
CALLER: Okay. The thing is, I’m going to be 14 later on this month, and my friend says that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Could he just take care of everything? I mean, he was wanting to pay for everything with cash anyway.
CLINIC: Okay. That’s something you would need to talk to the office about. I don’t know if they’re going to tell your parents or not. What city do you live in?
CALLER: I live in San Jose.
CLINIC: I can give you the number to San Jose.
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: And that number is 254-9096.
CALLER: Okay. Could I come in there for a pregnancy test though?
CLINIC: Sure. You can walk into the office today between the hours of 9 and 4.
CALLER: Okay. But would anybody have to tell anybody about that?
CLINIC: That I don’t know. That’s something you need to talk to them about.
CALLER: Oh. Okay. Well, let me call them. What was your name?
CLINIC: My name’s Tina.
CALLER: Okay. All right. Well, if it ended up that I wasn’t pregnant, could I come into where you’re at and get birth control?
CLINIC: We’re strictly an abortion provider here.
CALLER: Oh, okay. All right.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: All right.
CALLER: Thanks.
CLINIC: You’re welcome.
CALLER: Bye.
(Dialing, busy signal)
(Dialing, phone ringing)
CLINIC: Good afternoon, Choice Medical. Can I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. Can I talk to Tina real quick?
CLINIC: To who?
CALLER: Oh. Oh, I’m sorry. I just talked to Tina. And she said to call you guys.
CLINIC: Oh, okay. Tina’s a code name we give. This is Choice Medical Group.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: What’s your name?
CALLER: I’m Lisa.
CLINIC: What’s your last name, Lisa?
CALLER: Carter.
CLINIC: Okay. Hold on.
(Pause)
CLINIC: Is Mia?
CALLER: Lisa.
CLINIC: Carter?
CALLER: Lisa Carter.
CLINIC: What’s your number, hon?
CALLER: Oh. I’m at my friend’s house. I just was calling to ask some questions actually.
CLINIC: Oh, okay. We don’t know who tried to call you. What do you need? Probably the corporate office.
CALLER: Huh?
CLINIC: It was probably the corporate office when you first scheduled your appointment.
CALLER: I haven’t scheduled an appointment.
CLINIC: Oh, you haven’t?
CALLER: I called them, and they told me to call you guys.
CLINIC: Okay.
CALLER: I was wondering about getting an abortion.
CLINIC: Okay.
CALLER: The main question is, I’m going to be 14 later on this month. My friend told me that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Could he just sign whatever it is and take care of everything, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: Well, you’re telling me right now that you’re with a man that is too old for you. You’re 14 years old?
CALLER: Well, I’ll be 14 on the 19th.
CLINIC: Okay. And he’s 22?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: That’s not good (laughing).
CALLER: Why is that not good? What do you mean?
CLINIC: Because he’s over 18. Even though you’re having consensual sex, it’s still statutory.
CALLER: Statutory?
CLINIC: You ever heard of that?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: Okay.
CALLER: What could happen? What do you mean?
CLINIC: (Sigh) Well, if you’re under 18, we have you sign a minor’s consent. And it states on there whether your partner is over 21 or under 21. If he’s over 21, that’s basically statutory rape, honey, even though —
CALLER: But he’s not raping me. We’re in love. We’re going to get married.
CLINIC: That doesn’t matter. That does not matter.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Well, what shall I do then?
CLINIC: Let’s see what it says. When are you going to be 14?
CALLER: On the 19th.
CLINIC: Yeah. I don’t know. Can you hold on real quick?
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Okay.
Do your parents know that you have a boyfriend this old?
CALLER: Yeah, they know him. I mean, he works with my dad. But they have no idea we’re having sex. If they knew about that, I don’t know what they would do.
CLINIC: Right. Okay. I’m going to let you talk to Dawn. She’s the manager. She’s going to explain it to you a little bit more, okay?
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay. Hold on.
(Pause)
CLINIC: What was your name?
CALLER: Lisa.
CLINIC: Oh, you haven’t been here yet. Okay.
CALLER: Right. The reason why I’m calling is to ask questions.
CLINIC: Okay.
CALLER: The thing is, 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. Could he just take care of everything, and you won’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: Well, actually, because of your age and his age, I’m going to have to report it to the state.
CALLER: Why?
CLINIC: Because you’re really young, and he’s really old.
CALLER: So it would just be better if I don’t come in there then?
CLINIC: Well, it’s up to you. But I am obligated by law, and so is every other facility like this — we’re obligated by law to call and tell the Department of Health and Human Resources or Human Services.
CALLER: Well, I don’t want anybody to get in trouble. I mean, what can I do?
CLINIC: What I’ve been told will happen is that they’ll probably call you. But I don’t know if they’ll want to press charges against him or not. I mean, your parents may want to press charges against him because you are too young and he is too old. Because, basically, what they call this is statutory rape.
CALLER: But he’s not raping me. We’re in love. We’re going to be married. I don’t understand.
CLINIC: Do your parents know that you want to marry this guy?
CALLER: Yeah. I mean, he works with my dad.
CLINIC: Well then, maybe your parents wouldn’t do anything anyway.
CALLER: Well, they know we’re going out; they just don’t know we’re having sex. I mean, I don’t know what they would do if they found out about that. I mean, they can’t know at all.
CLINIC: But, unfortunately, I have to call. If you come in and I get that information, I am obligated by law as is any other medical provider. Because it’s there to protect children — which you still are — from child abuse, which this could be considered.
CALLER: But I’m not being abused.
CLINIC: It’s against the law. I mean, technically he could go to jail for this.
CALLER: Well, I don’t want him to go to jail.
CLINIC: (Laughs)
CALLER: He’s the only one that’s ever there for me. If he went to jail, I don’t know what I would do.
CLINIC: I’m just telling you I have to report it if you come in. I mean, if you — yeah, I would have to.
CALLER: I’m not really sure, actually, if I’m really pregnant, because I just haven’t had my period since January 3rd, so I’m scared.
CLINIC: Yeah. If you ignore the pregnancy, they’ll definitely find out about if you are, because eventually you’ll start to show, and you’ll have a child. And then your parents will know that you’re having sex.
CALLER: Well, where can I go to get a pregnancy test?
CLINIC: Well, you can come into ours.
CALLER: Yeah. But if I come in there, you’re going to send my boyfriend to jail?
CLINIC: (Talking to someone else) The pregnancy test doesn’t say anything like that? No, the pregnancy test doesn’t ask you questions about that.
CALLER: Oh. But if it turned out that I was pregnant, then everyone would get in trouble?
CLINIC: No, no. Because like I said, we don’t necessarily have all that information down on just a pregnancy test. We have you just fill out a form that tells us your name, your address, and things like that. And then you just take a pregnancy test. Or you could try a home pregnancy test. You could try the EPT. That’s a pretty good one. It’s like 15 bucks. Make him buy you one. Basically, you pee on a stick. And you could try that first and see what you get.
CALLER: Well, if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I come in there and get birth control?
CLINIC: No, we don’t, but Planned Parenthood does.
CALLER: Oh. But would they have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: They probably would. If they knew that you were having sex with somebody that old, yes. They’d probably inform — they have to. We have to by law inform. If I don’t do this, and somebody were to find out about it, I would get into some real trouble. It is the law. It’s a state California law that I have to comply with. Every doctor is going to be the same way. There is no escaping this.
CALLER: Well, could I get birth control if they didn’t know?
CLINIC: Well, you can probably get birth control anyway. This isn’t really our business. Our business is that we report it to the state like they tell us to, and then the state deals with it. We’re not here to judge you. It’s like most of us don’t even want to have to report it, you know what I mean?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: It’s because we are obligated by law, we have to do this.
CALLER: Well, if I go to a Planned Parenthood and I didn’t tell them —
CLINIC: I cannot tell you to lie or things like that, but you’ve got to do what you got to do.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: You know what I’m saying?
CALLER: Yeah. Okay.
CLINIC: But, definitely, this is something I would have to report on. If you come in and give me your name, and you tell me you’re 14 and your boyfriend is 22; then, yes, I have to report it. There’s too much of discrepancy in your ages.
CALLER: Yeah. Well, I’ve got to think about all this. Could I call you back and talk to you if I had any other questions? What was your name?
CLINIC: My name is Dawn.
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Yeah. Okay?
CALLER: Okay, thanks.
CLINIC: You’re welcome
***END***