Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
ATLANTA WOMEN’S MEDICAL CENTER
235 W WIEUCA RD NE
ATLANTA, GA 30342
404-257-0057
TAPE – 821
(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)
CLINIC: Atlanta Women’s Medical Center.
CLINIC: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: Yes, we do.
CALLER: Well, how much does it cost for that?
CLINIC: How many weeks are you into the pregnancy?
CALLER: I’m not really sure.
CLINIC: Do you know when you had a last period, the last period you had?
CALLER: Well, it was January 15th. That’s why I’m worried.
CLINIC: Okay. So you missed February, and you probably will miss March. This is an estimate, but you could be about seven or eight weeks pregnant. And that’s considered the first trimester price, which is 410. And that would be good until 12-and-a-half weeks. And we do a sonogram to make sure. And you’re processed through counseling, medical work-up, blood typing and recovery time. The abortion’s only about five or six minutes, the vacuum aspiration procedure. You could be awake, sleep or sedated, and that is all included in the 410.
Do you know what your blood type is?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: If it’s negative, with any center they’re going to add a fee. Our fee for negative blood type is 35 because you need an injection. And we would explain that if it was the case.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Well, I actually had another question.
CLINIC: Sure.
CALLER: I’m just kind of worried. My friend told me that, since I’ll be 14 later on this month, that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Is he old enough to take care of it, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: So you’re 13 right now?
CALLER: Right.
CLINIC: Because of the laws in Georgia — it’s like a parental notification law — unless you have a legal bypass, which would be really the only way not to tell your parents, we would have to have a notarized letter by them if they didn’t want to come. He could be the one to bring you, but you would still have to have them write a letter saying I’m aware of.
Do they know you’re in a relationship with him?
CALLER: Yeah. I mean, he works for my dad. They know we’re going out, but they don’t know we’re having sex. I mean, if they found out about that, I don’t know what they would do.
CLINIC: Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do.
CALLER: Well, what’s the legal bypass?
CLINIC: You would have to go to — I don’t know where you live; I don’t know courts’ numbers. But apparently there’s a way of going through the court and basically obtaining a legal document bypassing that you don’t need the parental consent. You would probably have to ask your boyfriend or try to call around and see where you could do that. But it’s really the only way I know of. And mention, I guess judicial bypass — tell them the circumstances. It would cause too much of a feud to let your parents know, but you want to terminate. I mean, that’s really the only other way. Either they would have to come sign the paperwork themselves or do the letter. Either way you’d have to tell them unless you got that bypass.
CALLER: Okay. Well, do they usually let you get a bypass?
CLINIC: I really haven’t known anyone to do it, so I don’t know how easy it is. But you should probably try to do it soon because you don’t want to have to — at your age, the further you are, the less likely a doctor — some doctors don’t want to do second-trimester abortions on someone your age.
CALLER: Okay. Well, could I come in for a pregnancy test just to make sure I am pregnant?
CLINIC: Sure, absolutely. Hold on a moment for me.
CALLER: All right.
(Pause)
CLINIC: One of my co-workers said that your best bet might right now be to contact Planned Parenthood who can apparently guide you through that process. And they’re real nice centers. And there’s one in Lynette (?), Lansing, Cobb —
CALLER: Would they have to tell my parents though?
CLINIC: No, not necessarily. You would try that. That’s what she thought, that they would be able to help you, I guess figure out how to do that, yeah. You could also come here if you wanted to get a pregnancy test. But that’s the one thing that she — if I had of known that Planned Parenthood would help — that’s a center that will also do testing, STD testing, gynecological care, pregnancy stuff.
CALLER: Well, my boyfriend just wanted to go to you guys. So I could get a pregnancy test where you’re at?
CLINIC: (Sigh) You could. Let’s see. It’s between 10 and 12 in the morning. You can walk on in. You could come tomorrow if you wanted. Does he not know where we are?
CALLER: He knows.
CLINIC: Okay. So do you want to come in tomorrow?
CALLER: Well, I have to call him to make sure he can get off work. But if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control from you guys too?
CLINIC: Let’s see, you could — I mean, have you been having regular periods? When did you start menstruating?
CALLER: About a couple years ago.
CLINIC: Have you ever missed a period like this?
CALLER: Not like this. I’ve missed like maybe a couple weeks or so but not this long.
CLINIC: Were you all having unprotected sex?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Okay. So you have reason to believe you might be pregnant?
CALLER: Yes.
CLINIC: Well, you could most likely talk to the nurse about starting on something, but to get a full prescription, you’d have to come here for a like a pap smear, which we could set up.
CALLER: How much does that cost?
CLINIC: An annual, about $70. And if you wanted to have an ultra sound, if you found out you were pregnant, you could do that for $100. And that could be put toward your procedure as well.
CALLER: Okay. Well, my boyfriend he said he would pay for everything. But when we were talking about all this we decided we don’t want anyone to know about us. Would it be all right if he was paying for it, and he wouldn’t have to sign anything or have his name on any forms?
CLINIC: I can check. Hold on one second.
(Pause)
CLINIC: I’m just trying to get my co-worker’s opinion because of your age. One woman I was talking to thinks that because of your age and because of his age, it would be considered statutory rape. And they don’t know if that’s something —
CALLER: But he’s not — what do you mean? He’s not raping me or anything.
CLINIC: No, no, no. It’s a law. If you’re under age and he’s over age, they can technically consider that, even though he’s not raping you, yes. So that’s something that they may not allow for your parents not to know because of the difference in your age. I completely agree. Everyone says that– it’s consensual. But that’s, in the eyes of the law, something you might face.
I mean, there’s absolutely no way you could — I mean, you really don’t think that you could tell your parents?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: You might have to. If you were on your own, if you were living on your own, if you had a child, something to kind of consider yourself an emancipated person — but because you’re still living with your parents — and she has a more realistic view. I have not ever known anyone to do it, so that’s why I don’t know how strict they are. And hearing your story made her think that that would be more difficult.
CALLER: Well, what should I say then?
CLINIC: I don’t know. Hold one second.
CLINIC: Hello?
CALLER: Uh-huh.
CLINIC: I would suggest to you that you call Planned Parenthood and just find out what avenues you need to do. There are other facilities in the Atlanta area that are not as strict as we are. Because if you come here, you’re going to have to have a letter from the court. And in no type of way are we going to help you fraudulently do that. Or you will have to have a notarized letter from a parent. So there are other facilities that do not require all the things we do. You might want to try going to one of them. Because we are not going to do anything that is against the law here when it’s pertaining to abortion.
CALLER: So if I come in for a pregnancy test though, would it be all right if my boyfriend — like he wanted me to go to you guys to get a pregnancy test and stuff. Would he be able to be there for a pregnancy test, and you wouldn’t have to say anything?
CLINIC: The only thing a pregnancy test is, you’re going to urinate in a cup. And he is not going to be in the bathroom while you urinate and not going to be there while we do the test.
CALLER: So it’s all right if he brings me, and he waits in the lobby or whatever?
CLINIC: He can, um-hmm.
CALLER: But you wouldn’t have to tell anybody about him?
CLINIC: I mean, you’re only having a pregnancy test. You can go to Planned Parenthood and have that.
CALLER: Oh. All right.
CLINIC: Okay.
(Clinic hangs up phone)
CALLER: Well, if I —
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