Abortion – Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information

In the early 1990’s, I was part of a movement that was trying to get the “abortion pill,” otherwise known as RU-486, into the country.  Ultimately, that effort was successful. 

Immediately, the pro-choice movement heralded the introduction of the pill.   In a New York Times piece, one leader predicted “great social change” in this country.  She argued that doctors across the country who had never performed surgical abortions would suddenly start dispensing the pill, making abortion services even more accessible to women. 

From the beginning, however, other pro-choice advocates, particularly those who actually worked in the clinics, warned their colleagues not to hype the product too much.  They argued that a doctor who was not performing surgical abortions would not just jump into the “abortion wars” and start dispensing the pill.  After all, they reasoned, if you want to take the leap into the world of abortion, even it’s just the pill, then you have to be ready for everything that comes with the provision of abortion services, including the specter of violence.  After all, why would a little ole doctor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a doctor who had never performed surgical abortions, suddenly get up and decide to offer the pill?   If he or she was looking at this as a way to supplement their income, then they would have to let people know that they offered the product, which probably meant taking an ad in the Yellow Pages.  And once you’re in the Yellow Pages under “Abortion Services,” you are suddenly a target.  There was also the issue of staff in that you’d have to get all of them to agree to suddenly start providing abortions.  You’d have to start thinking about security, insurance, hiring trained counselors, etc., etc.   

Well, those folks were right.  To this day, a number of women use the pill but the numbers have not gone up astronomically like some predicted.  And the pill has certainly not supplanted surgical abortions.  Also, those new doctors never did come out of the woodwork. 

 I grow weary of blaring press releases and unrelenting hype.  The feminist groups fought to get the abortion pill on the market for good reason, but they exaggerated its impact.  That’s because they really didn’t talk to the clinics, those who were in the trenches on a daily basis. 

Today, the abortion pill is being used but it has not been a substitute for surgical abortion.  One reason is that it’s not just a matter of popping one pill.  It’s really several pills over several days.  The cost is also higher than a surgical abortion.  And some women did not react well when told that when they took the pill, they would be expelling the pregnancy into a toilet.   Clinics still report that women are calling in the middle of the night “freaking out” at the blood and the sight of what ultimately might have been their baby.

The pill is a good option for some. 

It didn’t change society…

In the early 1990’s, I joined the staff of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, an organization that represented the interests of independent abortion clinics across the country.  Since I was going to represent them in some way, I felt it was important to visit a sampling of the clinics to see how they operate, to get a feel for the work they were doing and the women they served.

One of my first stops was at a clinic in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I spent the first few minutes with the doctor, who after getting comfortable with me actually offered me a joint.   I deferred.  Then, the administrator of the clinic took me on a tour of the building.  As I was touring, there were about 20 patients in the waiting room, presumably there for abortions.  It hit me that it would be helpful to talk to some of them, if they were willing.   I asked the administrator and she immediately said:  “You gotta talk to Sylvia.”  

Sylvia was there for her sixth abortion at the clinic.  Yep, her sixth.  I was horrified – and the administrator could tell by my very judgmental reaction.  But then she said “If you’re gonna represent us in Washington, D.C., you need to be ready to defend women like Sylvia.” I gulped and said okay.  Within 30 minutes, I was in a room alone with Sylvia.

I explained to her who I was and said “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I need to know where you are coming from.  The anti-abortion people always talk about women using abortion as birth control, so I need to know why you keep coming back here.”  

She was very cool, with a beehive hair due, dark red lipstick, constantly chewing gum.  A real “sassy broad,” as my father might have said.

“Okay,” she started, “the first time I got pregnant the condom broke.  The second time, my boyfriend said that he’d kill me if I made him use a condom.   The third time, I was totally drunk, had no idea what was going on.  Finally, I got on birth control pills but there was one month there when I couldn’t afford the pills and, wham, I’m pregnant again.  The fifth time, well, I just don’t remember.  And this time I was just relying on Lady’s Luck.”

“What is Lady’s Luck,” I asked.  

“That’s just when you hope you get lucky and not get pregnant.  Pretty stupid, huh?” 

As you can probably tell, she was not an educated woman.  She worked in a local convenience store, had two kids already, one autistic.  She lived for the weekend.  You get the picture. 

I tried to get mad at her.  After all, she was my worst public relations nightmare.  But ultimately I decided I simply had to accept what she was saying.  I mean, this was her life and she had made a lot of mistakes.   Sure, I wish she didn’t have to have six abortions but I came out of that meeting thinking “Who am I to judge?”     

Later, I accompanied her into the surgery room and, during the procedure, she started to sob a little.  The nurse, who was holding her hand, asked her if she wanted to stop the abortion.  She stiffened up and said “No, I am not the kind of person who should be having any more kids.”

Yesterday I talked about the murder of Doctor David Gunn on March 10, 1993.  As I mentioned, after his shocking death his colleagues were denied the opportunity to go to his funeral because of a violent snowstorm in Tennessee.   So, abortion providers all over the country, who were in mourning over the incident, were not able to get together with their comrades for that “group hug” that they so desperately needed. 

Months later, members of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers started talking about how they would commemorate the one year anniversary of Doctor Gunn’s death.  An idea started to form that ultimately almost cost all of them their lives.   

It was suggested that the members of the organization actually go to Pensacola for some kind of tribute at the site where Doctor Gunn was killed.   NCAP staff flew to Pensacola and at the site found a lovely, open air amphitheater right across the street from the clinic.  They reported that it would be perfect for such an event.  So, NCAP announced that they would host a tribute to Doctor Gunn that would feature his son, David Gunn, Jr.  From the beginning, a number of NCAP members expressed their concern for their safety.  After all, not only had Doctor Gunn been murdered there just a few months earlier, but Pensacola had also been the scene of several abortion clinic bombings in years past. 

Still, most of the members of NCAP made the trip and on March 10, 1994, approximately 100 abortion doctors and clinic staff left their hotel, got into two buses and drove out to the site of Doctor Gunn’s murder.   Security was hired to cover the event but that didn’t assuage the participants, who were still visibly nervous.  They just didn’t know what to expect when they got out there.  Surprisingly, there was only one protestor at the site – Mr. Paul Hill.  This was the same Paul Hill who, months earlier on “The Donohue Show,” declared that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill an abortion doctor.  Interestingly, throughout the entire ceremony, Hill was quiet.  He just walked back and forth as he held up a sign saying “Execute Abortionists.” 

For the next hour, about 100 NCAP members sat down on the steps of the amphitheater and listened with great emotion to the speeches.  They gasped when a letter from President Bill Clinton was read, congratulating them on their courage.  Then, they walked silently across the street to the clinic and laid flowers at the spot where Doctor Gunn’s body was found.   The tears were unrelenting.

Little did they know that they had all narrowly avoided being the target of a massacre by an anti-abortion zealot.

It seems that a few days earlier, a man named Daniel Ware had boarded a bus in Houston carrying several bags of guns and hand grenades.   When he got to Pensacola, he told a local anti-abortion activist that he was planning on “wiping out” everyone at the scene of the Gunn tribute.   After all, despite a few security people around, the participants were sitting ducks. 

Fortunately, that anti-abortion person contacted the local police about Ware’s plot.  For some reason, the police did not arrest Mr. Ware.  Instead, they simply put him back on the bus to Houston.  I have no idea what happened to him after that.  

Then, just a few months later, the same Paul Hill killed Doctor Baird Britton and his escort as they entered the parking lot at a different clinic in Pensacola.  Another close call avoided.

In a short while, the pro-choice movement will commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of Doctor George Tiller.  So many words have been written about this wonderful man who was gunned down at his church, so I cannot contribute anything else that hasn’t been said already. 

But as we approach that day, I am reminded of the day when the murders began.  I am reminded of the murder of Doctor David Gunn, the first abortion doctor who was assassinated for what he did.  I think it’s important to remember that day as well. 

I was working at a national pro-choice organization for about three years when I got the call at 11:45 a.m. on March 10, 1993.  The woman at the end of the line was hysterical as she told me that David had been killed as he was entering his clinic in Pensacola, Florida.  I didn’t know David, but I had heard about him from Susan Hill, a woman who owned several clinics, including one that David regularly worked at.  Susan had told me weeks before that her doctors were getting nervous about the increased anti-abortion activity outside of the clinics.  Then she told me about one of her doctors, David Gunn, and how he was so concerned about his safety that he started carrying guns with him as he travelled every day from clinic to clinic.  He also told her that he had a “boom box” and loved to play “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty in front of the protestors that he faced regularly.  I wonder now if he had pushed it too far.     

The facts are well known by now:  he was killed instantly by an anti-abortion zealot named Michael Griffin, shot in the back as he got out of his car.  Griffin did not flee and was arrested immediately.  Ultimately, he was sentenced to life in prison. 

Doctor Gunn’s murder created a national firestorm.  The story was headline news everywhere.  Unfortunately, over the years, as more doctors were killed, those stories got less attention.  But this story was hot for days on end.  At my office, we were flooded with calls from fellow abortion providers, most of whom did not know David Gunn, who were asking about how to buy bullet proof vests, how to install security measures at their clinics, how to avoid the stalking.    

Over the next few weeks, a number of abortion doctors quit their jobs.  They felt – understandably – that this would not be the first murder, that this incident would incite a wave of violence against abortion providers.  So, without much fanfare, they quietly informed us that they were leaving the field.  On the other hand, of course, there were the “warriors” who were ready to do battle and who armed themselves to the teeth. 

Out of this nightmare emerged a quiet hero – David Gunn, Jr.  David was an unlikely hero.  He had a stutter, he had hair almost to his waste and he had never spoken publicly.  But he had accompanied his father on some of his trips throughout the south and could see the hatred that was growing.  Immediately, David took up the banner for his father and started appearing on a number of national shows.  I’ll never forget his appearance on “The Donohue Show” about a week later as he sat on the stage with Mr. Paul Hill who told the audience point blank that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill a doctor who performed abortions.  David was firm, probably totally puzzled , and polite as always.  He did his father proud.

Unfortunately, the funeral of David Gunn was held in Tennessee during a terrible snowstorm so most of Doctor Gunn’s colleagues could not attend and get that big “group hug” that they all needed so desperately.  A year later, however, the National Coalition of Abortion Providers held a memorial at the site of David’s death.  And the 100 or so attendees barely escaped being massacred.  More on that in a future post.

A few days ago, I wrote about the doctors who perform abortions.  Who are they?  What kind of degrees do they have?  What do they do inside the clinic?  That got me to thinking a little bit more about the other folks who run abortion clinics and so, in my never ending quest to educate the public on the provision of abortion services, I thought I would talk a little bit about the owners of the clinics. 

As one who had been in the field for many years, I will admit right up front that most of the early owners of the clinics around the country were a mysterious lot.  That’s probably because they never advertised who they were and where they lived.  They rarely gave interviews.  Indeed, in the early years, whenever I asked who owned a particular clinic, the staff people would be very secretive.  Over the years, however, that veil of secrecy started to break down to some extent.

For the most part, in the days right after abortion became legal, it was mostly men who owned the clinics.   While there may have been some altruism behind their setting up clinics, they were businessmen through and through.  Once abortion was legalized, they just went into certain, hospitable states and starting setting up their clinics.  Many of them established chains of abortion clinics.   One of the earliest and, ultimately, largest chain of clinics was established by Doctor Edward Allred in southern California.   At one point, he had a little over 20 clinics known as Family Planning Associates.  Doctor Allred, in addition to having these clinics, was also one of the biggest breeders of horses in the country and owned a racetrack in Los Angeles.  He was rarely seen and made a few controversial statements in his time, but I will say he had some of the most beautiful clinics in the country.   

These owners made millions of dollars because they had the few clinics that were operating and there was an incredible demand for the services.  But because they were somewhat “mysterious,” an image of them started to develop that was not too flattering.  Over the years, however, they started to “come out” a little.  Not sure why that happened but I do know that when I started visiting them when I traveled, for the most part I found that they were your average businessman who was just trying to make a living.  I also found, however, that they were somewhat dedicated to making abortion accessible to women and were not as cutthroat as I imagined they might be.  Oh, sure, I met some sleazeballs but, for the most part, they were just average people. 

Yes, there were some female owners in those days.  One woman, Merle Hoffman, founded “Choices” in Queens, New York, which ultimately became one of the largest abortion clinics in the country.  Merle continues to work at the clinic today.  There were also wonderful women like Renee Chelian, the owner of the Northland Family Planning Centers in Detroit, and Claire Keyes in Pittsburgh.  These women, understandably, had a slightly different approach to the provision of abortion services. 

There is also a group of clinics that technically have no owners.   They are the non-profit clinics.  For years, there was a chain of such clinics called the Feminist Women Health Centers, but they ultimately changed their name.   These clinics were run by a Board of Directors.  The Planned Parenthood clinics are all non-profits.

Today, as in any field, there is a new group of younger owners who are taking the mantle.  And most of them are women.  While I appreciate the male pioneers who stuck their necks out and established the first clinics, it’s comforting to me that there are more and more young women who are now leading the charge.