Botched abortions, sewage on floor: NYT exposes negligence at Planned Parenthood clinics
Nakara Alston’s story of delivering a baby who died shortly after birth following a botched abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility is one of many complaints against the organization highlighted in a New York Times article that has prompted renewed calls to end its federal taxpayer funding.
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that it had reviewed multiple documents and legal filings pertaining to Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide, and conducted interviews with more than 50 current and former Planned Parenthood executives and staff. The Times reported that multiple Planned Parenthood facilities are “short on cash” and operating with outdated equipment and untrained staff.
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins commented on the piece in a post on X, stressing the importance of an outlet like the Times covering the problems at the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“When even the ‘New York Times’ says Planned Parenthood is bad at their inhumane ‘job’ of killing people for money, you know it’s time to get fired,” Hawkins wrote. “President Trump, it's time to defund & debar your political adversaries. The only thing they seem good at these days is attacking the GOP.”
Alston, who underwent an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility in New York, later filed a malpractice suit against Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood. The woman had discovered she was eight weeks pregnant after deciding to leave her boyfriend and, as the Times reported, she scheduled an abortion “in desperation.”
After the abortion, Alston experienced heavy bleeding and painful cramps that persisted for weeks. When she contacted the abortion facility to report her symptoms and to alert them that an at-home pregnancy test had come back positive, a staffer claimed they had seen her aborted baby post-procedure and she had nothing to worry about.
Alston's symptoms persisted, however, and she decided to seek care at an emergency room where it was discovered that her baby was still in her womb, according to the Times. The mother delivered her baby 12 weeks after paying for an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility. The baby died soon after it was delivered.
Pro-life advocate Abby Johnson, who worked at Planned Parenthood in Texas for eight years before experiencing a change of heart, remarked that the business doesn’t appear to have changed since her time there.
Johnson, the founder of And Then There Were None, a pro-life group that helps abortion workers leave the industry, accused Planned Parenthood of using expired medications, subjecting women to “disgusting” facility conditions, employing unqualified staff and spending huge sums of money on things unrelated to patient care.
"No matter what your position is on abortion, I would hope we could all agree that women don't deserve to be vomiting over the smell of leaked sewage when they are in an exam room at Planned Parenthood,” the pro-life advocate said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.
“Or that women shouldn't be given expired medication. Or that money designated for medical services is spent on political and legal campaigns,” she added. “Or that non-qualified staff at Planned Parenthood should be handling services they have no business handling. Women deserve so much better than this. They deserve better than abortion.”
Staff members at a Planned Parenthood facility in Omaha, Nebraska, recounted in interviews with the Times that last year, sewage from a backed-up toilet leaked into the recovery room, where it remained for two days. In an attempt to stop the leak, employees shoved exam table pads under the bathroom door, but women who visited the facility still vomited from the smell.
Another woman who accused Planned Parenthood of poor care was reportedly four months pregnant in 2022 when a Nebraska clinician inserted an intrauterine device. The woman later delivered a stillborn baby, according to the report.
Johnson, who also served as a director at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic and received an award from the organization for her work, called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, asserting that the organization received over $600 million in taxpayer money but can only provide “terrible care to the people they serve and fail to uphold even the bare minimum standard of care.”
“We can do better for women, and defunding Planned Parenthood is a great place to start,” Johnson asserted.
The Times article appeared to imply that the negligent care and poor conditions at various Planned Parenthood facilities are due to a lack of funding. As the daily newspaper noted, little of the money the organization receives from donations goes to its state affiliates.
A majority of the money received from donors is directed at campaigning for abortion laws, according to the Times article, which also highlighted various states that have taken steps to prevent the nation’s largest abortion provider from receiving Medicaid payments. Planned Parenthood has also raised money to campaign against President Donald Trump’s plans to cut its federal funding.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, another pro-life political advocacy group, accused the organization of placing more of a priority on lobbying for abortion than caring for women.
“Planned Parenthood markets itself as being the ‘nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care for all people,” the pro-life group stated in a post on its website. “In reality, Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of abortion on demand.”
According to Planned Parenthood’s annual reports, over the last few years, the number of abortions performed has continued to increase while adoption referrals and legitimate health services have declined.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
