PLANNED PARENTHOOD
219 E. MAIN ST
MISSOULA, MT 59802-4493
406-728-5490
TAPE – 366
(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)
RECORDING: Welcome to Planned Parenthood. Please listen carefully to the following options. The clinic will be closed on Monday, February 18th for President’s Day. If this is an emergency or you need weekend emergency contraception, please dial 1-800-472-4487. If you know your party’s extension, you may dial anytime. For a pill refill, press 1. To make an appointment, press 2. Press 3 for abortion information or to schedule an abortion. For all other calls, please press zero (dial button pressed).
One moment please.
(Phone ringing 1x)
CLINIC: Missoula Planned Parenthood. Could you hold, please?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Thanks.
(Long pause)
CLINIC: Thanks for holding. How can I help you?
CALLER: Yeah. I was wondering if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: We do.
CALLER: Okay. Well, do you know how much that cost?
CLINIC: I would not be the one to inquire about that? Did you get the option to make an appointment for that? I know that it’s usually between 300 and 450.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Well, I’m just really scared. I don’t know. My friend told me that since I’ll be 14 in March that you guys have to tell my parents that I’m getting an abortion. But my boyfriend’s 22. Is he old enough to take care of it, and you won’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: You know, I’m not sure about that. Let me put you on hold and grab somebody who knows more what they’re talking about and could give you more help.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay? Just a moment.
(Pause)
CLINIC: Hi. This is Brenda. Can I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was wondering — well, my friend told me that since I’ll be 14 in March that you guys have to tell my parents that I’m having an abortion. But my boyfriend’s 22. Could he take care of that, and you guys wouldn’t have to tell anybody about anything?
CLINIC: Are you there?
CALLER: I’m here.
CLINIC: No matter what age your partner is we would never tell anybody.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: You don’t have to report it to your parents, and we certainly don’t. I mean, we’re here to help you, not tell them.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Are you doing okay?
CALLER: Yeah. Well, I don’t know. I’m just scared.
CLINIC: How far along are you; do you know?
CALLER: I’m not real sure. My last period was December 14th.
CLINIC: Well, you need to get in here pretty quick then if this is what you want to do. The 14th of December?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: And was that a pretty normal period?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Because right now you’re almost 10 weeks. Next week you’ll be ten-and-a-half weeks, almost 11, if that was a normal period. Are you in Missoula?
CALLER: I’m in Florence.
CLINIC: Okay. We could do a couple of things. My name is Brenda and I run the clinic here. I could schedule you for an ultra sound. You could come in for an ultra sound, and we could see how far along you are.
CALLER: How much does that cost?
CLINIC: Fifty dollars for the ultra sound. That comes off then the price of the abortion if you want one. And it’s cash, credit card or money order. We can’t accept personal checks.
CALLER: Well, my boyfriend said he would pay cash for everything.
CLINIC: Okay. So if you wanted to schedule to have that done, then we would know how far along you could wait or if we have to get you in real quick. We go up to 16 weeks, but the price goes up, and it’s a little more complicated procedure if you wait until — we don’t want you to wait until 16 weeks.
CALLER: Well, do you think that there’s any way that I couldn’t be pregnant? Could I get on birth control?
CALLER: If you’re not pregnant?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Well, have you had a pregnancy test?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: You just haven’t had a period since December?
CALLER: Right.
CLINIC: What I would do is get a home pregnancy test or you can come in here and we can do a pregnancy test, just a urine sample. But you can buy one over the counter or you can come in here. It’s $10, and we’ll give you the results in five minutes. If you wanted to do that — or you could just get one at the supermarket, and then go to the bathroom and take it yourself. I mean, they’re just the same.
CALLER: Are those usually right?
CLINIC: They usually are. Just follow the instructions very carefully. And you usually don’t have to wait until the morning urine. You can do them anytime during the day.
CALLER: Oh, okay. Well, if I came in there for a pregnancy test, is it all right if my boyfriend’s there with me?
CLINIC: Yeah.
CALLER: I just don’t know if I’d be able to do it right. I just would feel better if he was there.
CLINIC: Okay. And he’s supportive of you? Are you sure this is your decision and not his?
CALLER: Yeah. I mean, we’ve talked about it.
CLINIC: Do your parents know you’re seeing him?
CALLER: Yeah. They just don’t know we’re having sex. I mean, I don’t know what would happen if they found out. I don’t know.
CLINIC: We never say anything to anybody’s parents no matter what their age. That’s your business. We’re here just to help you. Since you are over 16, we have to have someone over 18 to call as an emergency contact. That person can’t be your partner though. Is there an aunt or a friend or a cousin or somebody over 18? Only in an emergency situation we would contact them.
CALLER: Well, what about my friend’s sister?
CLINIC: How old is she?
CALLER: She’s 20.
CLINIC: Does she know that you’re pregnant?
CALLER: No.
CLINIC: Okay. You can put her down. And again, it’s not that we’re going to call. We would only have to call them if you all of a sudden had to go to the hospital or life threatening, but that doesn’t happen.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: Never seen that happen. We just need someone over 18 to notify in case we had to if something happened to you.
CALLER: Well, after I am all done with this, could I get birth control there?
CLINIC: Oh yeah. We’ll send you home with a pack of pills the day you leave.
CLINIC: It’s just my boyfriend and I don’t want to have to go through this again.
CLINIC: Right. We don’t want you to do that. So we can give you a pack of pills when you leave. And we need you to come back for your two-week check-up just to make sure your cervix has healed and your uterus is back to normal size. And at that time, if you haven’t had an annual exam, we would do an annual exam and then set you up on pills for the rest of the year.
CALLER: Oh, okay. But if I was on birth control, you guys wouldn’t have to say anything to anybody about it?
CLINIC: No, honey. We would never tell anybody.
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Okay? So I don’t want you to worry about that.
CALLER: What was your name?
CLINIC: My name is Brenda.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: If you want to come in for the pregnancy test, you do need to call the number again and touch zero or whatever the line number is for appointments. And just make an appointment. Say I just need to come in for a pregnancy test, and they’ll fit you in in the float hours. And when you get here we’ll run the pregnancy test. If you’re here and you want to do an ultra sound while you’re here too, then you need to schedule that for me. So you would just say, can I schedule an ultra sound with Brenda also.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: If you know that you want an ultra sound, I can see you tomorrow, and we can just do the pregnancy test.
CALLER: Well, I don’t know. I’d have to call my boyfriend to see when he can bring me.
CLINIC: Okay. I’m here everyday. Thursdays aren’t a really good day because that’s the day we do the procedures. But I can just about see you anytime. I just need to schedule it.
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: What was your name?
CALLER: I’m Christine.
CLINIC: We’ll take good care of you, Christine. It’s a great clinic here, and no one will ever know.
CALLER: Okay. Thanks.
CLINIC: All right. Bye bye.
CALLER: Bye.
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