Two Minnesota women are suing Planned Parenthood in federal court, alleging they underwent abortions they did not want and that the organization failed to adequately screen them for pressure or coercion before the procedures.
Their experiences unfolded in very different ways.
One woman says she walked out of her first appointment at a Planned Parenthood clinic crying, then intentionally missed three more appointments before eventually returning.
The other was unmarried and living with her parents, scared, ashamed and under so much stress she felt unable to “think straight.”
The lawsuit was filed against Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) and its parent organization, Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Dr. Sarah Traxler, the organization’s medical director.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of approximately 44,000 women who underwent abortions at Planned Parenthood facilities in Minnesota over the past six years.
KPS says she repeatedly tried to walk away
KPS says she repeatedly tried to walk away from the abortion.
The Minnesota woman, identified in the lawsuit only by her initials, was unmarried and working as a nursing assistant when she became pregnant in 2020. According to the complaint, she intended to keep and raise her child.
The lawsuit states KPS “immediately sought prenatal care from an obstetrician. The obstetrician shocked her by suggesting abortion and providing her with a list of abortion facilities.”
The lawsuit says her mother insisted she have an abortion, and the baby’s father also demanded one and refused to provide financial or emotional support.
Still, KPS initially resisted.
When she arrived at Planned Parenthood’s St. Paul facility for her first scheduled abortion, she could feel her baby kicking and began to cry and sob, according to the complaint.
She left without undergoing the abortion, then intentionally missed three more scheduled appointments.
“KPS wanted to keep her child but felt pressured to submit to the abortion,” the lawsuit states. “She was so conflicted and ambivalent that she scheduled and intentionally missed three subsequent abortion appointments.”
Eventually, she scheduled a fifth appointment.
At one point during her interactions with Planned Parenthood, when the complaint says her baby was approximately 20 to 22 weeks old, KPS asked a worker by phone whether her baby would feel pain during the abortion.
“The worker lied and told KPS that what was being removed was ‘nothing but tissue,’” the complaint alleges.
At her fifth appointment, the lawsuit says KPS signed a consent form in the waiting room before speaking with a doctor, nurse or counselor.
After an ultrasound, a worker gave her an oral drug, according to the complaint. KPS then told workers she did not want to proceed and wanted to leave.
“PPMNS/PPNCS told KPS that because she had already taken the drug, it was ‘too late,’” the lawsuit states.
The complaint says KPS was crying when she was taken into the procedure room.
“Nobody from PPMNS/PPNCS asked her why she was so distressed,” the lawsuit alleges. “Instead, she was given medication that knocked her out.”
Afterward, KPS asked to see her baby, according to the lawsuit. The complaint alleges Planned Parenthood presented the remains to her in a metal pan. KPS later paid a funeral parlor to obtain the remains.
“KPS had her baby buried,” the complaint states.
Boyer’s story is different
Clara Boyer’s account describes a 21-year-old woman who says she was overwhelmed by her circumstances and conflicted about what to do.
Boyer was unmarried and living with her parents when she became pregnant in 2021. According to the lawsuit, she was surprised, scared, ashamed, embarrassed and confused.
The baby’s father suggested abortion twice, according to the complaint.
“If the baby’s father had supported Clara in keeping the baby, she never would have considered abortion,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit says Boyer was experiencing so much stress that her decision-making ability was badly compromised. She felt unable to “think straight.”
“Clara believed abortion was morally wrong but felt trapped by her circumstances,” the complaint states.
Boyer eventually underwent a medication abortion at Planned Parenthood’s Brooklyn Park facility on Nov. 26, 2021.
The lawsuit alleges she signed a consent form in the waiting room before meeting with a doctor, nurse or counselor and that Planned Parenthood did not screen her for coercion or pressure or discuss her moral and religious objections to abortion.
The complaint alleges the abortion caused Boyer “extreme mental and emotional anguish, including extreme shame and sadness, depression, anger, remorse, and daily psychological rumination over the loss of her baby.”
Two stories form basis of broader challenge
While their circumstances were different, Boyer and KPS make the same central legal argument: Planned Parenthood did not have adequate safeguards to determine whether their decisions were truly knowing, voluntary and informed.
Their attorneys argue pregnant women have fundamental rights under the 14th Amendment protecting their parental relationships with their children and that abortion permanently terminates that relationship.
“Every pregnant mother possesses intrinsic fundamental rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment which protect her relationship with her child,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit compares abortion to legal proceedings involving the termination of parental rights, arguing Minnesota provides greater procedural protections in those cases.
“Only a court of law can legally terminate a mother’s parental rights, and only after a hearing establishing the appropriate grounds for termination,” the complaint states.
Lawsuit seeks class status
The proposed class goes beyond women who specifically allege they were pressured or coerced into abortions.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that Minnesota law violates mothers’ 14th Amendment rights, certify a class of more than 44,000 women, and award compensatory and punitive damages. They are also seeking a jury trial and other relief.
In a press release, attorneys said the case challenges what they described as “involuntary, coerced, pressured, unknowing, and uninformed waivers of their 14th Amendment rights and termination of their parental relationships with their children.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
