PLANNED PARENTHOOD – CENTRAL CLINIC
PO BOX 4557
DES MOINES, IA 50306-4557
515-280-7000
TAPE – 117
(Dialing, phone ringing)
CLINIC: Planned Parenthood Central. This is Bethany. Can I help you ?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was wondering if you guys do abortions there?
CLINIC: Uh-huh.
CALLER: Yeah? Well, how much does that cost?
CLINIC: It depends on how far along you are.
CALLER: Okay. How do you know?
CLINIC: Do you know the first day of your last normal menstrual period?
CALLER: It was like the first week in December.
CLINIC: December? So right now you’re probably a little over 10 weeks, almost 11 weeks along. At 13 weeks, the cost is $900. Do you have insurance?
CALLER: Well, my boyfriend said he would pay for it.
CLINIC: So you’re not going to use insurance. The full cost, like I said, is going to be 400 — or $900. When you don’t have insurance or insurance that won’t cover, we give you a 50 percent discount off that, which makes it $450. And that is all due when you come in.
CALLER: Oh, okay. Is there any age limit for having an abortion or anything?
CLINIC: Nope, it doesn’t matter how old you are. But if you’re under the age of 18, you either need to have your parent with you or you need to —
CALLER: Like, I can’t tell my parents. They’re —
CLINIC: Then you’d have to go in front of a judge to do it.
CALLER: Okay. What do I have to go to a judge for?
CLINIC: Are you under the age of 18, I’m guessing?
CALLER: Well, I’ll be 14 in March.
CLINIC: You’ll be what?
CALLER: I’ll be 14 in March.
CLINIC: So you’re under the age of 18.
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: It means that you’re not an adult. You’re a minor. So it’s a illegal in the state of Iowa to do it without parental notification. You can go in front of a judge. We prefer you to talk to your parents though.
CALLER: But I can’t. My boyfriend’s 22. And we’re going to get married and everything. But they can’t find out because they hate him. They think he’s too old for me. And there’s just no way that they can find out or anything.
CLINIC: Okay. Then once you make your appointment, we’d give you the phone number to the Youth Law hotline, and you’d have to go in front of a judge and prove to a judge that you’re mature enough to be making this decision on your own.
CALLER: What if the judge says no?
CLINIC: Then you’re going to have to tell your parents.
CALLER: All right. And there’s no way around that at all?
CLINIC: No. It’s a state law.
CALLER: What if my boyfriend says it’s all right?
CLINIC: Yeah, that’s fine. But that’s not your parents.
CALLER: So my boyfriend can’t say, well, it’s all right, and you guys wouldn’t have to tell my parents then?
CLINIC: No. Because you are not 18, the state of Iowa law says that you need to either have your parents with you or you need to go in front of a judge and let a judge decide.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Do the judges always say no?
CLINIC: Do they always say no?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Um-um. I don’t know if I’ve had someone as young as you go in front of the judge, so I don’t know. That might make a difference.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: But I don’t know. I can’t say. I mean, I would definitely prefer you to talk to your parents.
CALLER: But nobody’s going to say anything about my boyfriend?
CLINIC: I don’t know. I have no idea. That’s up to a judge too, I guess. I don’t know. That he’s that much older than you, I don’t know how a judge is going to feel about that.
CALLER: Well, I just don’t want my parents to know about this.
CLINIC: Well, they shouldn’t know. There shouldn’t be any reason why they’d find out if you went in front of a judge. But if something went wrong or anything like that then —
CALLER: Do I have to tell the judge about my boyfriend?
CLINIC: I don’t know how it’s done. I have never been there before.
CALLER: Does anyone know?
CLINIC: I can give you the number to the Youth Law hotline, and they can help you out more than I can.
CALLER: How much does that cost?
CLINIC: It’s free.
CALLER: Oh, okay. Would they tell anyone about my boyfriend?
CLINIC: I don’t know. It’s the Youth law hotline. I don’t know how they’re going to react to it.
CALLER: Well, say I wasn’t pregnant, and I came in to you guys, would you guys be able to do birth control or anything?
CLINIC: Um-hmm.
CALLER: And you wouldn’t have to tell anybody about that?
CLINIC: Right.
CALLER: Okay. I would have to talk to my boyfriend. But can I call you back and ask you questions or anything if he’s got more?
CLINIC: Yep.
CALLER: Okay. What was your name?
CLINIC: My name is Bethany, but you can talk to anyone that’s here.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay.
CALLER: Okay, thanks.
CLINIC: Bye.
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