Women Claim They Had Abortions Out of Fear

By Dave Andrusko

As NRL News goes to press, the D.C. Fire Department is embroiled in a burgeoning controversy over the claims (as the Washington Times reported) that three women "had abortions because they were threatened with [job] termination, in addition to a rookie who terminated her pregnancy out of fear."

Medic union leader Kenneth Lyons initially held a press conference August 30 to allege that as rookies the three women were told they could not take leave if they became pregnant, and must have an abortion if they wanted to retain their jobs, the Times reported.

"This is disgusting to me," Lyons said, "that this could happen in this day and age, in an agency that vows first and foremost to do no harm."

Within a week of those allegations, a local television station, WUSA, reported that Fire Chief Ronnie Few had also sent out letters to female applicants who wished to be fire fighters or emergency medical workers that they must have pregnancy tests. Any job offers will be "held in abeyance" if the test is positive, the letter said, according to the television report. The following day (September 6), the Washington Post reported that D.C. Police had also required some female applicants to take pregnancy tests.

"Right now, we're retracing to see where these policies came from and what analysis went into the crafting of them," Margret Kellems, deputy mayor for public safety, told reporters. "We're basically working backwards to look at the history of it."

Kellems told the Times, "This is not going to be a perfunctory examination."

In its August 30 edition, the Times reported that a 21-year-old had an abortion after a supervisor told a group of about 10 rookie medical workers that they could not get pregnant and, if they did, they were not entitled to medical benefits. The young woman "expressed concern" to the supervisor, "who told her she could get an abortion if she wanted to keep her job," according to the Times.

Meanwhile, Louis Malone, the 21-year-old woman's attorney, told the Times that he has filed an equal employment opportunity complaint with the district.

"If this can't be resolved to the satisfaction of our client, I would think it would lead to a lawsuit," Malone said.