To whom it may concern;

To whom it may concern;

On Monday August 24 I called PP to discuss an abortion for my 16 year old daughter as I had found out the previous evening that she was pregnant. The attendant was very nice and scheduled a phone appointment with my daughter for later that afternoon. During her phone appointment my daughter made it clear that I (her mother) was in the room and the call was done via speaker phone where all 3 of us were speaking. When my daughter confirmed that she wanted the abortion we were scheduled for the procedure and the entire process was explained to us both. The attendant explained everything that would occur on the day of her procedure from beginning to end and we were both asked if we had any questions. My support and involvement was clear and understood from the start.

The day of her appointment staff brought us back, had me pay for the abortion and then sent us to the waiting room to wait. When they finally called her back, I followed only to be stopped at the door no support persons allowed . SHE IS 16, I stated. The scheduling attendant never ONCE mentioned that I would not be allowed to go into the back with my daughter to hold her hand or just sit with her while she went through this. We even discussed my support of this decision when scheduling the appointment. When I was stopped at the door after my daughter was called back and told I couldn t come in, she was terrified. Had I known of this policy I would have either found somewhere more accommodating and compassionate to MINORS, or prepared her to do this alone. My daughter had fear in her eyes but at that point we knew we had no choice as our money had, ofcourse, already been collected. This was outrageous. Kids should be allowed to have their parent present if it is their choice and the parent is there In a supportive fashion.

The staff had difficulty finding a vein and 3 different people had to stick her, then she vomited three times afterward in recovery and cried for me. This is not reasonable when you have a parent who is there willingly and is in support of the abortion. I understand keeping people away who might cause distress or be stressful to the patient, but that was not the case here. It is truly heartless to have had a 16 year old have to have this done all alone.

Lastly, when her father asked for an update on how she was he was told that the procedure was over and she was in recovery. We asked to speak to the doctor to go over any aftercare or just get reassurance that it went well. We were told the aftercare instructions had already taken place. Just to reiterate: the aftercare instructions had already taken place. With a 16 year old. Under sedation.

This is disgraceful.

My daughter was then walked out the waiting room door and sent on her way with a vomit bag in one hand and a bag of birth control pills in the other. She could barely walk.

I understand policy and I understand protecting women and girls when it comes to their reproductive choices. I also know that some minors, unfortunately, have to make these decisions alone and their privacy protected. But when you have a minor whose parents are involved, supportive and THERE, they deserve respect. ESPECIALLY if the girl wants them there for her mental well being. This traumatic situation was made more traumatic by your facilities refusal to allow my daughter her support system and you should rethink that.