# Are tokens of appreciation for Women's health/pregnancy termination staff acceptable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349 "2009-03-05T02:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/21 "2009-03-07T04:51:31Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > a job that at BEST, most people (including the ones utilizing the services) consider a necessary evil. Seems like that is how the OP feels too, going by how she was very careful to point out to us that she has thought about “the unfortunate need for such services”. After all, it would be terrible thing if anyone mistakenly thought she was pro-abortion, you see. In a lot of people’s views, it seems, abortion is **kind of** wrong. They don’t want to go as far as to say it’s murder, but it might be the moral equivalent of, say, littering. As for me, I’m thinking about baking some cookies and sending them to my local vet who does declawing. I bet it really hurts his feelings when animal rights activists go on about how mean it is to declaw cats. It’s really unfortunate that declawing is necessary, but I’m really glad that someone out there is willing to do it so that people aren’t trying to cut their cats’ toes off at home. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/22 "2009-03-07T06:13:04Z")
Nurses are kinda like cops, ya can’t go wrong with coffee and donuts. How to deliver it so there’s no question it’s tainted is problematic, but gift cards work, or you could just ask them. **Lavenderviolet** I’m not really seeing your point, it’s an uncomfortable, invasive procedure that puts a pt at risk for bleeding and infection, why wouldn’t I want there to be no need? I also feel that it’s unfortunate that there needs to be a special place, singled out. I’d think it was great if the sign wavers were confined to the street in front of a big building with no idea who was going in for what. ---
**Author:** ![JaneSaintClair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JaneSaintClair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneSaintClair)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/23 "2009-03-07T11:32:14Z")
I never make the assumption that anyone is pro-abortion, because after almost 10 years of working in this field, I’ve never met anyone, even those who are seeking those services, who would consider themselves such. Pro-choice, yes. Pro-abortion, no. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/24 "2009-03-08T23:27:36Z")
There is an interesting [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/fashion/08generationb.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=abortion%20clinic&st=cse) in this Sunday’s **New York Times Magazine** that offers some insight into working at an abortion clinic. Some snippets > [@](#): > > The staff at abortion clinics typically earn less than their counterparts in other medical disciplines. “We were able to pay about half what a doctor’s office or hospital paid,” said Tina Welsh, 67, who in 1981 helped found the Women’s Health Center, a nonprofit abortion clinic in Duluth, Minn. She was ready to retire as director in 2005, but couldn’t find a replacement. > > … > > “People running these clinics,” Ms. Arick said, “have brains wired for social work and social justice even though they’re in the medical business.” Studies show the typical woman having an abortion is a poor, single parent in her 20s. Many don’t have insurance, or the insurance won’t cover abortion. Ms. Burgess said half who come to her clinic need financial help, and she employs a staff member to search for charitable grants. > > Working at an abortion clinic intrudes into a person’s private life. “I never wanted to be political,” Ms. Welsh said, “but for the clinic to survive, I had to know all the legislators from our area. They can make or break you.” > > “You work in abortion,” Ms. Burgess said, “it will affect who you will date, the parties you will be invited to.” Every day when she comes to work, she’s picketed. On the weekday I visited, 15 protestors carried signs comparing abortion to Hitler’s Holocaust. > > A decade ago, after an Atlanta clinic was bombed, Ms. Welsh had to take terrorism prevention classes. “I’m a director of a nonprofit, and I’m sitting there thinking, Why am I learning about letter bombs?” she recalled. “My board decided after that, only I could open the clinic mail — I was the only one they insured, to save money on the premium.” > > On July 11, 2008, protestors picketed Ms. Welsh’s retirement party. > > It’s been years since there was violence at the Hope clinic. In 1982, the clinic was firebombed, and eight months later, the owner and his wife were kidnapped for a week, before being released. When Ms. Burgess arrived as director in 1990, all the windows were still boarded. > > … > > After 33 years, Ms. Baker doesn’t worry, but she is still cautious, having the guard escort her to her car during periods when anti-abortion protest historically flares up — Christmas and Easter; the Jan. 22 Roe v. Wade anniversary; Mother’s Day. Her greatest joy is when a woman tells her, “You make me feel like I’m not a bad person.” Her biggest disappointment is how little has changed since the 1970s. “I used to hope some day, instead of people being so scared and ashamed, that the taint, the stigma, would stop. It has not.” ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/25 "2009-03-09T08:26:53Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > As for me, I’m thinking about baking some cookies and sending them to my local vet who does declawing. I bet it really hurts his feelings when animal rights activists go on about how mean it is to declaw cats. It’s really unfortunate that declawing is necessary, but I’m really glad that someone out there is willing to do it so that people aren’t trying to cut their cats’ toes off at home. Well aren’t you just an adorable little threadshitter? So cute! Are you seriously comparing terminating a pregnancy to declawing a cat? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/26 "2009-03-09T08:59:48Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Seems like that is how the OP feels too, going by how she was very careful to point out to us that she has thought about “the unfortunate need for such services”. > After all, it would be terrible thing if anyone mistakenly thought she was pro-abortion, you see. In a lot of people’s views, it seems, abortion is **kind of** wrong. They don’t want to go as far as to say it’s murder, but it might be the moral equivalent of, say, littering. > > As for me, I’m thinking about baking some cookies and sending them to my local vet who does declawing. I bet it really hurts his feelings when animal rights activists go on about how mean it is to declaw cats. It’s really unfortunate that declawing is necessary, but I’m really glad that someone out there is willing to do it so that people aren’t trying to cut their cats’ toes off at home. It must really suck to be in the minority on this particular issue, surrounded by so many thoughtful and supportive people on the other side. In a lot of people’s views, it seems, thread shitting is **kind of** wrong. They don’t want to go as far as to say you’re acting like a jerk, but it might be the moral equivalent of, say, self-righteous soapbox shouting. Seriously, go start your own thread if you want to debate or rant about the morality of abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/27 "2009-03-09T10:47:55Z")
Who invited **LavenderViolet?** Take it up in GD or the Pit, please! Planned Parenthood is the reason I have yearly Paps and birth control; if it weren’t for my local clinic I would have a hard time affording these essential services. And it’s nobody’s business if I’m there to get BC pills, STD screenings, a Pap smear or an abortion; thankfully nobody has ever picketed my clinic while I’m there but I would be absolutely enraged if it did occur. Every PP clinic is different but mine is absolutely free; they ask for a donation when you check out and I always give as much as I possibly can. They are a blessing and I am very grateful for the work they do and the care they provide. The OP has made me want to write a letter saying just that. Thanks for reminding me! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/28 "2009-03-09T15:17:29Z")
If you believe somebody’s threadshitting, it’s usually better to ignore it than to let the thread get pulled off course. **lavenderviolet** , debates about abortion and whether or not it’s morally equivalent to littering belong in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349/29 "2009-03-10T12:57:25Z")
I have been going to PP since I was 18 (11 years now). I figure I’ve probably received 17 Paps, 2 Colposcopies, 1 HIV test, 1 full STD checkup, 2 biopsies, 4 pregnancy tests (for confirmation before getting BC), a hell of a lot of good information, 1 mistake worth of Plan B, at least one large size box worth of condoms, and about 7 years worth of birth control. I have never had a problem with protesters since I started going to NAPP, here in Plattsburgh. I used to deal with them every time I went to pick up my pills in Worcester though. Usually I ignored them. One time though, I bitched out a guy who called me a baby killer. PP was there for me when I was 19, making $7.25 per hour and had no insurance. I paid $50 for a colposcopy and found out I didn’t have cancer. Imagine how that would have turned out for me if I hadn’t gone to PP and HAD had cancer. Just last year, they again found problems and again I had a colposcopy. This time, they actually had to do biopsies. Again, no cancer. When I need a physical, it would take 3-6 months to get an appointment at the health center (they’re great for everything else, just not physicals). When I go to PP for my physical, it usually takes a week or so to get an appointment. Planned Parenthood has been an incredible benefit to my life. My sister has also been a dedicated patient of theirs for over 15 years now. Neither of us has ever had an abortion. We are both pro-choice but Planned Parenthood had nothing to do with that. I had a major argument with my born-again mother after finding out she had picketed the Planned Parenthood in Worcester. I reminded her how grateful she had been to them after they told me I didn’t have cancer. I also reminded her that PP was the only place that would give me birth control when I was 16, not sexually active, and suffering from extreme menstruation problems. I pointed out how much money I have saved by going to them (for the record, Plan B costs $45 from the pharmacy without a prescription. At Planned Parenthood, it’s $25). My mother still thinks they’re evil baby killers but she did say she wouldn’t picket them again because even she has to admit that they do so much good for women like me. Thank you Planned Parenthood. I look forward to every visit I have with you and even though I make pretty good money now and I have excellent insurance, I see no reason to take my business elsewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tokens-of-appreciation-for-womens-health-pregnancy-termination-staff-acceptable/488349.md?page=1)