SIOUX CITY, Iowa — New allegations against Planned Parenthood have surfaced weeks after President Donald Trump took office.
Sue Thayer, a former employee of Planned Parenthood brought up serious allegations in a video with Live Action News. Thayer accused her former employer of using incentives to encourage clinics to meet abortion quotas.
In an interview with Alpha News MN, Thayer explains Planned Parenthood had quotas for everything.
“There were goals for every service,” Thayer explained, “We would have a goal, every center did. If you were not an abortion providing center, then you had a goal for number of abortion referrals. If it was not an abortion providing center, then you had a goal for number of abortion referrals. You were expected to hit that goal and if you didn’t, then you needed to have a corrective action plan for how you would make goal for the next month. It was assigned by upper management and every center had it.”
While her Storm Lake clinic did not provide abortion services during her tenure with Planned Parenthood, Thayer speaks from experience. According to the Des Moines Register, she was always uncomfortable with the agency’s role in abortion but has admitted to Alpha News her clinic met quotas for abortion referrals. She also received several incentives for her work. “I did [receive rewards] during my time there. I was employee of the month a couple of times and I received other incentives as well,” Thayer explained.
Employee of the month is just one incentive given to those who met the quota. Thayer alleges pizza parties, two-hours paid time-off, lunch in Des Moines, IA, and employee of the month was just some of the incentives given.
Thayer states, “as a team, it would motivate us to try to hit goals because we might get one of those incentives. So that really was a motivator for every center to try and hit goal. They would put it on a graph.”
Before Planned Parenthood fired her over differing opinions on webcam abortions, which do not require a doctor to be physically present. The doctor is consulted via webcam. A woman seeking an abortion will receive abortion pills from a drawer a doctor opens from his/her remote location.Thayer worked as a Center Manager for two centers during her 17 years with the organization.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit on Thayer’s behalf against Planned Parenthood in 2011. While ADF did not return repeated request for comment by Alpha News, their website states:
“ADF attorneys filed a “whistleblower” lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act and the Iowa False Claims Act (FCA) claiming that Planned Parenthood’s Iowa affiliate submitted “repeated false, fraudulent, and/or ineligible claims for reimbursements” to Medicaid.”
Thayer waited nine years to share her allegations of abortion quotas and incentives. In a follow-up question asking why she waited almost a decade to share her story, Thayer states: “This issue is not relevant to the case. Thanks!”
Thayer has testified in court, before Congress in 2008, and has been active in the Christian speaking circuit following her dismissal from Planned Parenthood and has not spoken of the abortion quotas until now.
Minnesota currently has 18 Planned Parenthood locations throughout the State. Multiple requests for comment to Planned Parenthood Minnesota and Planned Parenthood National have not be returned.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
