Former Planned Parenthood director Annette Lancaster has spoken about the reasons behind her decision to leave the abortion industry.

Lancaster explained that she did not hold strong views about abortion when she was first hired to manage a Planned Parenthood facility in the United States. “I never really saw myself as pro-life or pro-choice,” she said. “It was something that never really affected me personally or anyone close to me at that time. So, I didn’t really think about it either way.”

According to LifeNews, Lancaster had not actively pursued a position with Planned Parenthood; instead, she was contacted by a headhunter about the opportunity. At first, she felt enthusiastic about the role, believing it would involve providing healthcare and supporting women.

However, after starting the job, she became troubled by the way staff were trained to encourage women to undergo abortions. She says that management expected her to meet abortion targets and criticised her when the numbers dropped.

Lancaster also described the tragic experience of her cousin’s daughter, who died after suffering complications following an abortion, as another factor that led her to leave the industry. She recalled: “I had a cousin. Her daughter ended up going to an abortion clinic. It wasn’t a Planned Parenthood facility, but it was an abortion clinic in North Carolina. She was very young. She was either 16 or 17. She had an abortion. She kept calling back, saying, “Something’s not right. I don’t feel well. I’m hemorrhaging more than what I expect.”

Lancaster said her cousin’s daughter’s concerns were largely ignored until an ambulance was finally called because she was hemorrhaging so severely that she lost consciousness. She was admitted to intensive care but later died after losing a significant amount of blood.

Reflecting on the tragedy, Lancaster said she felt “very responsible” for her second cousin’s death: “I thought I should never have encouraged her or her family to have an abortion. 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?”

How often do you come across stories like this in the mainstream media? It’s not that accounts from former abortion workers are few and far between. It has everything to do with the fact that much of the Irish media does not want you or your friends hearing perspectives that challenge its settled take on abortion.