Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
PHILADELPHIA WOMEN’S CENTER
225 S. 15TH ST. # 301
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19102
215-546-2330
TAPE – 653
(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)
CLINIC: Hello, Philadelphia Women Center. Laura speaking. How may I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: Yes.
CALLER: Well, how much does that cost?
CLINIC: How far are you in your pregnancy?
CALLER: I’m not really sure. I just haven’t had my period since January 3rd.
CLINIC: Our fees go by gestational sizing. Did you do a pregnancy test?
CALLER: Well, no. I just haven’t had my period for a while. I’m real scared.
CLINIC: Okay. You need to do a pregnancy test first to see if you pregnant because sometimes a missed period can be other things.
CALLER: Well, do you guys do that there?
CLINIC: We have walk-ins.
CALLER: What time?
CLINIC: You have to be here by 1:30.
CALLER: Today?
CLINIC: Right.
CALLER: Okay. Do you do it any other day?
CLINIC: Any day between — on like procedure days it’s 12 to 1:30, and on any other days, like Wednesday or Thursday, come between 8 and 1:30.
CALLER: My friend told me that since I’m going to be 14 later on this month that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Could he just sign whatever it is, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: No. He’s not your guardian. You can go by judicial bypass.
CALLER: What is that?
CLINIC: When you go into a lawyer. We give you a lawyer’s name. She’ll take you in front of a judge. The judge will give you consent to do your own —
CALLER: Well, how much does that cost?
CLINIC: That’s free.
CALLER: Oh, really?
CLINIC: Um-hmm. Okay. But does a judge ever say no?
CLINIC: I haven’t heard him say no.
CALLER: Oh, okay. So I just come in there and get a pregnancy test. And if it’s positive, go to the judge?
CLINIC: No. You have to make an appointment and have all that done before you go — no, you don’t go to the judge. They give you a lawyer’s name.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Tell them you want to go by judicial bypass because you don’t want your parent to know. You have to make an appointment first, then they do all that, and give you a phone number to call.
CALLER: If it ended up that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control that day?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: Oh. Okay.
CLINIC: You need to go to a free clinic like Planned Parenthood Teen Clinic. They have a teen clinic.
CALLER: But would they have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: So if I came in there for a pregnancy test, would anybody have to know I was there?
CLINIC: No, unless you tell them. Anywhere like that, they’re not suppose to tell your parent. Even the people at Planned Parenthood, they wouldn’t tell.
CALLER: Me and my boyfriend were talking about all this, and we don’t want anyone to find out about us. Would you guys have to tell anybody about us?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: He said that he would pay for everything. Would he have to sign any papers or anything?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: Oh, all right. Well, if I was on birth control —
CLINIC: The only paper he would sign would be an escort paper.
CALLER: A what?
CLINIC: Escort.
CALLER: What does that mean?
CLINIC: That he’s responsible for taking you home because they’re going to give you anesthesia.
CALLER: Well, would you have to give that to anybody else?
CLINIC: It doesn’t go off your chart. All this is confidential. Everything stays in the chart.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: The only way anybody outside finds out unless you go tell.
CALLER: So if I was on birth control you wouldn’t have to tell anybody either?
CLINIC: We don’t tell about birth control.
CALLER: Okay. All right.
CLINIC: Nobody’s suppose to tell. That’s confidential.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay? Unless you tell. The only way your parents are gonna find out is unless you slip up and leave it around for them to see. They don’t call houses and tell them anything, unless you tell one of your friends, and they might tell.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: So you keep that to yourself. Okay?
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Okay then.
CALLER: What was your name again? (Clinic hangs up) Are you there?
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