A former Planned Parenthood clinic director is sharing her story about leaving the abortion industry, describing how troubling experiences inside the organization led her to reconsider her work and ultimately walk away.
Annette Lancaster, who once managed a Planned Parenthood facility, recently spoke in an interview on PureFlix about the events that changed her perspective on abortion and her role in the industry.
According to LifeNews, Lancaster said she did not begin her job with strong opinions about abortion. “I never really saw myself as pro-life or pro-choice,” she explained, adding that the issue had never directly affected her or anyone close to her at the time.
She did not initially seek employment with Planned Parenthood. Instead, a recruiter approached her about the position. Because the job offered management experience, she accepted the opportunity with enthusiasm.
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“I was actually excited. I had known the name Planned Parenthood… [The job] was in management, which was what I wanted. So, I went into it thinking, this is a great management experience. I’ll be the manager of an entire clinic. And this will just be the best thing ever,” Lancaster said, according to LifeNews.
She said she believed the work would involve helping women through healthcare services and considered the position a meaningful opportunity.
However, Lancaster said her outlook began to change once she witnessed how employees were trained to interact with patients. According to LifeNews, she became troubled by what she described as pressure placed on staff to increase the number of abortions performed.
She said she was reprimanded when abortion numbers dropped at the facility she managed, which led her to question whether there was an unofficial expectation to maintain certain numbers.
One moment that deeply affected Lancaster occurred when a woman undergoing an abortion procedure asked her a question that she said she has never forgotten.
“There was a patient on the table in the procedure room, and she grabbed my hand, and looked me in my eyes, and asked me, ‘Will God forgive me for this? Do you think God is gonna forgive me for this?’” Lancaster recalled.
She said she knew what she wanted to say in response but instead repeated what she had been trained to say.
“And I knew what I wanted to say. I knew what my heart was saying, but I gave her the typical Planned Parenthood answer that I was taught, which was to answer her question with a question,” she said. “And so, I said, ‘Do you believe in a forgiving God? Do you think God is going to forgive you for this?’ And I just kind of left her with no answer.”
Lancaster said the encounter left her unsettled.
Another tragic event further shook her confidence in the abortion industry. According to LifeNews, Lancaster described how a teenage relative sought an abortion at another clinic and later died after suffering severe complications.
“She kept calling back, saying, ‘Something’s not right. I don’t feel well. I’m hemorrhaging more than what I expect,’” Lancaster said. She explained that the girl was reportedly told that heavy bleeding was normal until her condition became critical.
The young woman was eventually hospitalized but died after losing a significant amount of blood.
Lancaster said the tragedy forced her to confront the reality of the procedures she had been supporting.
“I thought I should never have encouraged her or her family to have an abortion,” she said. “That is another time that I started thinking to myself, Annette, what are you doing? Someone has actually now died from the procedures that we say are so safe. What are you doing?”
She also said she witnessed practices within the organization that troubled her deeply.
“You have such a large organization that says, ‘We’re so great, and we’re here to help.’ But then you falsified paperwork. You have managers falsify paperwork and documentation,” Lancaster said, according to LifeNews.
She further alleged that employees were instructed to misrepresent information to patients. “We’re falsifying ultrasound images so that we can perform procedures… You’re teaching your employees to lie to women so that you can get money.”
Eventually, Lancaster encountered outreach materials from a pro-life ministry that helps abortion workers leave the industry.
According to LifeNews, literature from the organization And Then There Were None was placed on Lancaster’s car one day. Although a coworker suggested throwing the materials away, Lancaster kept one card and later contacted the group.
With their help and support, she left her position at Planned Parenthood and found new work outside the abortion industry.
Today, Lancaster shares her story publicly, hoping it will shed light on the realities she says she witnessed and encourage others to reconsider the impact of abortion on women, families, and those who work within the industry.
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