It was another eventful day at the Safe and Legal Abortion Center otherwise known as the Everett Planned Parenthood. Sadly, I was there to witness the transport of what appeared to be a severely injured woman to a North Everett Hospital. We are still investigating as to the severity of the botched abortion and only pray that it was not fatal or caused serious injuries.
Events started to unfold a little before 1:00 pm when I heard sirens approaching the corner of Hoyt and 32nd in Everett, Washington. As the red engine rounded the corned from the south I walked hastily to see if it would move beyond Planned Parenthood on Hoyt. Unfortunately it stopped and 3 paramedics unloaded their gear and went in the side entrance.
I had arrived at Planned Parenthood about 10:00 am today and noticed things were different. The sidewalk and the traffic in and out of the clinic weren't the usual hub of activity and conversation. Usually by about 11:00 to 11:30 women are exiting Planned Parenthood after their abortions and more women are arriving. And they come out the front door. Today this didn't happen. Every customer except one came out the side door on to the parking lot.
The arrivals were unusual too. Maybe two women came and left with little brown bags, probably condoms. One PP supporter came to make a donation. She proudly let me know she was "pro-choice". I told her, "I can tell!" I wonder if she would have left her money if she had known they were in the middle of a botched abortion.
Another woman arrived with white poster board, which they later used to block the view from the street when they loaded the injured woman into the ambulance. At the time I thought they were going to use it to write "happy signs" for their employees and customers, perhaps with little slogans like, "We Love Our Customers" or "Planned Parenthood Employees Make the World Go 'Round", maybe "Abortion Saves Women's Lives" would have been a good one. One wonders if the botched abortion had occurred by this time and were they making preparations for damage control? Did they delay in calling 911?
The employees weren't their usual smug and surly selves. They actually seemed sad and did not want to make eye contact. However, when I asked one employee who had brought something to a woman in her car how it was going, she replied, "good". That was about 12:30.
After the paramedics had gone inside I waited to see if an ambulance would appear. Indeed, not long after that, maybe 5 minutes, the ambulance arrived and they took a gurney inside.
It was about 1:15 when Planned Parenthood employees started filtering out the side door that opens onto the parking lot to form a conga line. They held big blue and white umbrellas, those white poster boards, and a flattened cardboard box (!) in order to try to obstruct our view of the situation. That tells you about their priorities.
The woman was slowly wheeled out into the parking lot and loaded into the ambulance. There must have been 10 to 12 employees of PP trying to protect their reputation and hide this horrific incident from the public. They performed the same ritual for the partner or friend or parent of the injured woman. The only thing I saw was a red sock, crumpled and askew on the woman's foot.
By 1:17 it was over and the ambulance had driven away; north, possibly to the emergency room at Providence Hospital. The attitude of the paramedics seemed to be one of sadness mixed with anger. They went inside to interview employees and take a report. I was left with an incredible feeling of sorrow to have witnessed this event. We know that babies die there on a regular basis and women are hurt during every abortion but there is never any formal public recognition of that. No sirens, no ambulances, no strong and brave men ever come to Planned Parenthood to ferry away the babes and mothers in need of help and care.
We called the Planned Parenthood main office to find out what we could from them. Interestingly, they hadn't been notified of it and were quite unfazed and unconcerned when asked about an injury, possibly a fatality, at one of their clinics. Phone calls to their media representative were not returned.
We'll keep you posted as further details are available.
