The following article describes the deception, humiliation, and harassment faced by Becki Lee at a fake clinic.

 

By Becki Lee

 

During my freshmen year, in my sociology of sexuality class, two women came to talk to our class about Women’s Health Specialists. They told our class about the many services that they provide, including everything from birth control to pregnancy testing to services for men. They handed out information on their services and contact information. Although these women were very informative and welcoming, like most other guest speakers I had had that year, I carelessly put the information in my bag.

Later that year, I found myself in a bit of a situation. My menstrual cycle had always been very normal. I had never missed a period or had been more than two days late. This time, I was two weeks late. My roommates offered to take me to the on campus health center the next day, but I remembered the women that came to talk to my class the previous semester. The only problem was I couldn’t remember the name health center. I asked around and one girl told me that I must be talking about the Women’s Resource Clinic. I looked them up and figured out that they were located on Esplanade. The next day, my roommate took me to this clinic.

When we walked in I told the receptionist that I wanted a pregnancy test. She was very cold and handed me some paperwork. I filled it out and handed it back to her and she told me it would be ten to fifteen minutes. I was very nervous. I didn't know what questions they would be asking me, or even how I would answer them. Finally my name was called, and I followed a woman to a small room. We sat down, and even in the minute before she began to talk I felt judged and uncomfortable. She started to ask me questions like “Do you go to church in the area?”, “Are you involved with a youth group?” and “Are you involved with any of the Christian clubs on campus?”. I could feel myself shaking and feeling like if I did not give the answers that they were fishing for that they would not give me a pregnancy test. I told them I was not yet involved with any on campus groups, and that I did not attend a church in the area. I could sense that she was not approving of the answers I was nervously giving her. Then they asked what I would do if I was pregnant. I told her that I wasn't sure. I was just hoping that I wasn't pregnant, I hadn't thought any further than that. I thought that at this point she would finally give me the pregnancy test. Instead, she started suggesting churches in the area that had strong college groups and telling me about Christian clubs on campus. I didn't know what to say, so I took the information she gave me and shoved it in my purse, and mumbled something about possibly looking into it. In reality, I had no intention of doing anything of the sort. I just felt that if I didn't say what she wanted to hear, I wouldn't be given the test.

Finally she explained that I would go into a room alone and take the test and then come back. So, I was led back to the other room and I took the test. I came back to the room I was in before, and I felt very anxious and scared. There was nobody there who was talking to be or trying to calm my nerves. I just sat there and waited. The woman came back in the room and continued to talk about religious topics. She let me know that they did not support abortion and did not perform them, just in case I was considering it. Of course the thought had crossed my mind after they started asking questions about what I would do if I was pregnant, so then I became even more uncomfortable. When the results were brought to her, she did not smile or anything at first. She just looked at some papers, and then finally told me the test was negative. I was so relieved, but I still felt very judged and anxious to leave.

The point of sharing my experience at the Women’s Resource Clinic is, is so important because women of this university and of the community know the difference between the two centers. They are very easy to confuse when you have not heard much about either one, and I just want to prevent any woman from making the same mistake I did. Women’s Health Specialists is a wonderful center that allows women to empower themselves and receive the health care that their body needs. Whatever it is you feel you need, whether it is a pregnancy test, help with fertility problems, a pap smear or anything else on the spectrum, Women’s Health Specialist is the health center that will make you feel comfortable and in control of your own health. They are located on 1469 Humbolt Road. No woman deserves to feel so inferior at such any potentially vulnerable moment and every woman deserves to feel comfortable when it comes to the health services that they need.

This article was published in Women's Spark, the newsletter of the Associated Students Women's Center, CSUC, Women's Bodies Week, October 2006.

Call Women's Health Specialists at a location nearest you to obtain pro-choice, non-judgmental health information, referrals, or appointments.

For more information on the web, see The Abortion Access Project's fact sheet on fake clinics and about what you can do.