Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
MEDICAL OPTIONS
135 MAIN ST.
DANBURY, CT 6813
203-743-5064
TAPE – 734
(Dialing, phone ringing)
CLINIC: Good afternoon, Medical Options. This is Karen. How may I help you?
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.
CLINIC: Uh-huh.
CALLER: Okay. Do you know how much it cost for that?
CLINIC: Six hundred dollars.
CALLER: Okay. 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. Is he old enough to take care of everything, and you won’t have to tell anybody?
CLINIC: You would have to sign minor consent forms. And we would need to put down a parent as an emergency phone number. We wouldn’t need parental consent. Let me just check on that. Hold on.
(Short pause)
CLINIC: Yes, that’s right.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: So did you want to make an appointment?
CALLER: I just was wanting to ask a few more questions. Me and my boyfriend were talking about all this. And he said that he would pay cash for everything, but he didn’t want to sign anything. If he was paying for it all, would he have to sign any papers or fill out any forms?
CLINIC: Hold for a second.
CALLER: All right.
(Pause)
CLINIC: Hello?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Okay. What was your question?
CALLER: I was wondering if my boyfriend had to sign anything if he was paying for everything.
CLINIC: He only has to sign anything if he wants to go with you for the termination into the procedure room.
CALLER: Oh. So he could just stay in the lobby, and he wouldn’t have to sign anything?
CLINIC: Right.
CALLER: Okay. Do you guys do a pregnancy test beforehand just to make sure?
CLINIC: Yes, and an ultra sound.
CALLER: It’s just I haven’t had a pregnancy test. I haven’t had my period since January 3rd. We’re just really scared about all this.
CLINIC: Since January 7th?
CALLER: 3rd.
CLINIC: January 3rd. Do you get regular periods every month?
CALLER: Well, usually. Sometimes I’m like a week late or so but never this long.
CLINIC: If you want, you can come and take a pregnancy test here with us or you can go to a supermarket and get one. You can take a home pregnancy test. And if it comes out positive, then you can make an appointment with us.
CALLER: Are those usually right though?
CLINIC: Yes.
CALLER: Really?
CLINIC: Um-hmm.
CALLER: Are the ones that you guys do better?
CLINIC: They’re the same.
CALLER: Oh, really?
CLINIC: Um-hmm. They’re about 98 percent sure or 99 percent even.
CALLER: Okay. Well, if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control from you guys?
CLINIC: You would have to get that from a regular doctor.
CALLER: Oh. You guys don’t do birth control there?
CLINIC: No. But you might be able to get that from Planned Parenthood if you don’t have a regular gynecologist.
CALLER: Yeah, I don’t. Would they have to tell anybody if I was on birth control though?
CLINIC: Would Planned Parenthood?
CALLER: Right.
CLINIC: I don’t think so, but you’d have to ask them.
CALLER: Okay. All right. So when do you guys normally do abortions? Do I need an appointment?
CLINIC: Oh yeah, definitely. We would do two appointments for you. We would have you come in beforehand where we would do an ultrasound. And then we would have a counseling session, where you would sign a consent form. We’d have to take your blood pressure, do all that sort of thing. The two appointments are included in the total fee, but in the first appointment you would pay $250, and then for the second appointment you would pay the balance of 350.
CALLER: Okay. So my boyfriend would have to take two days off to bring me?
CLINIC: It would — yeah. Does he work on Saturdays?
CALLER: Well, no.
CLINIC: Because Saturday is the day that we do a termination.
CALLER: Oh, okay. So just come in on a normal weekday for the first part, and then come on Saturday for the abortion?
CLINIC: Right.
CALLER: Do you know what times you have in the middle of the week?
CLINIC: For next week?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Okay. Let me see. Does it matter which day it is? We’re not open on Wednesdays.
CALLER: Thursday or Friday probably.
CLINIC: Friday?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Thursday or Friday. Thursday would be better because I imagine that you don’t know your blood type.
CALLER: Right.
CLINIC: So let me see. We’re going to need to know your blood type. We can draw it when you come here or you can have it drawn somewhere else. But it’s $20 to be drawn here or we can send it to a Quest lab. I have no idea how much they charge.
CALLER: How much does it cost for you guys to do it?
CLINIC: Twenty dollars.
CALLER: Okay. We should probably just go there to you guys for that. Do you know how much money my boyfriend should bring for everything?
CLINIC: On Thursday when you come in, he should bring $270. That includes the blood draw. And then when you come back on Saturday, then he would pay the balance of 350. As long as you’re a first trimester and as long as you are planning to have twilight anesthesia. There’s two kinds of anesthesia. You can also have local anesthesia, which is a less expensive procedure, but it’s also less comfortable, meaning we would only numb the cervix. With twilight anesthesia you would be sedated. You’d be mostly asleep. You’d be sort of kind of high and cloudy and relaxed.
CALLER: Okay. So that one’s better?
CLINIC: Yes.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: (Chuckles). Okay. So you want to come in on Thursday?
CALLER: Well, let me call him and see what time on Thursday.
CLINIC: Okay. Because you need to get your blood drawn, I would almost recommend that you came in on Tuesday instead just in case. Because it would just sort of hopefully come in from the lab by Saturday if you came in on Thursday, but if you need to do Thursday, then we’ll do that. You should come on Tuesday, but if not, Thursday’s fine.
CALLER: So what time on Tuesday then?
CLINIC: Whenever time you can, except 3:00 on Tuesday. That’s the only other appointment we have on Tuesday. So anytime basically.
CALLER: So what do you have on Thursday?
CLINIC: Anything before 3:00.
CALLER: Okay. Well, let me call him and tell him that.
CLINIC: But it can’t be between 12 and 1 because that’s the lunch hour.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: So give me a call back.
CALLER: And you were Karen?
CLINIC: Karen, uh-huh. What was your name?
CALLER: Lisa.
CLINIC: Lisa. Okay.
CALLER: Okay, bye.
CLINIC: Bye.
***END***