The nation’s largest abortion provider is facing accusations of – wait for it – mistreating and discriminating against its pregnant employees.
Not surprised? We aren’t either considering how Planned Parenthood as a company celebrates abortion and how the prenatal care services the organization claims to provide for women via its clinics are few and far between.
The New York Times published a report on Thursday accusing Planned Parenthood among other companies that claim to look out for women of “sidelining, ousting or otherwise handicapping pregnant employees."
The report describes a pervasive workplace culture of discouraging pregnancy, made worse by the lack of paid maternity leave in most of its offices. It includes interviews from dozens of current and former employees of Planned Parenthood, as well as employees of companies such as Avon and Natera, that allege they were discriminated against or otherwise made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace for being pregnant or new mothers.
The Times reports,
In interviews and legal documents, women at Planned Parenthood and other organizations with a feminist bent described discrimination that violated federal or state laws — managers considering pregnancy in hiring decisions, for example, or denying rest breaks recommended by a doctor.
In other cases, the bias was more subtle. Many women said they were afraid to announce a pregnancy at work, sensing they would be seen as abandoning their colleagues.
Some of those employers saw accommodating expecting mothers as expensive and inconvenient. Others were unsympathetic to workers seeking special treatment.
The report claims that Planned Parenthood “managers in some locations declined to hire pregnant job candidates, refused requests by expecting mothers to take breaks and in some cases pushed them out of their jobs after they gave birth, according to current and former employees in California, Texas, North Carolina and New York.”
The Times also reported that “most Planned Parenthood offices do not provide paid maternity leave, though many let new mothers take partially paid disability leave.”
Leana Wen, the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, responded to the Times in a statement, saying that she believes Planned Parenthood “must do better than we are now.”
“It’s our obligation to do better, for our staff, for their families and for our patients,” said Wen.
While she admitted the organization's fault in the statement, Wen added that Planned Parenthood is investigating the allegations included in the Times report.
“The organization also is conducting a review to determine the cost of providing paid maternity leave to nearly 12,000 employees nationwide,” writes The Times.
Sounds like they're guilty, doesn't it?
Many managers of the employees interviewed by The Times deny the allegations.