Planned Parenthood rewards clinics with pizza parties for meeting abortion quotas

A Planned Parenthood clinic is seen in Vista, California, August 3, 2015. | Reuters/Mike Blake

Former Planned Parenthood staffers have revealed that each clinic has to meet a certain abortion quota each month and that the abortion organization uses incentives like pizza parties and paid time off to motivate its employees to achieve their monthly goal.

In an interview with Live Action President Lila Rose, former Planned Parenthood manager Sue Thayer disclosed that each clinic has a goal for how many abortions were done, and the ones that did not perform abortions had a goal for the number of abortion referrals.

She said that the abortion provider has implemented "corrective action plans" for the facilities that are 10 percent below the quota.

Thayer narrated that she trained her staff to encourage women to choose abortions, and they would try to schedule an abortion appointment before the pregnant woman leaves the clinic.

"We would say things like, 'Your visit today is X number of dollars. How much are you going to put towards that?' If they said, 'I am not able to pay today,' then we would say something like, 'Well, if you can't pay $10 today, how are you going to take care of a baby? Have you priced diapers? Do you know how much it costs to buy a car seat?'" Thayer recounted.

Thayer explained that the employees can be rewarded with pizza parties and two hours paid time off if the clinic consistently meets the quota. If the facility hits the goal three months in a row, the manager could become the "center manager of the month" and have lunch with the upper management in Des Moines, she said.

Marianne Anderson, who served as a nurse for over two years at a Planned Parenthood in Indianapolis, said that she sometimes felt like she was "more of a salesman" because of the quota that her clinic has to meet.

"[W]e were constantly told that we had quotas to meet to stay open. Like I said, I felt more like I was selling abortions sometimes than treating people," she said.

The interview with former Planned Parenthood employees is part of a series of investigative videos released by Live Action. The pro-life group has spent $500,000 in a digital ad campaign to release the videos to the public and to put pressure on lawmakers to consider legislation that would strip Planned Parenthood of its annual federal funding.