KBTX - HomePage - Headlines

Planned Parenthood Says Former Director Breached Confidentiality Agreement

Print
Updated: Mon 11:45 PM, Nov 02, 2009

Physically, the offices are only separated by about one hundred yards. But based on each organization's mission, they may as well be a world apart. The Coalition for Life is pro-life and Planned Parenthood is pro-choice.

Abby Johnson knows both sides well. Johnson was the director of Planned Parenthood in Bryan for two years, having worked and volunteered for the organization another six years before that.

For several months before resigning in October, Johnson says she questioned whether or not she was doing the right thing.

"Finally what happened one day was I actually was in the room when a different type of abortion procedure was being done. And that day I just thought, I can't do this anymore," said Johnson.

That's when Johnson says she had a change of heart on the abortion issue. And when she decided to switch sides and go down the street to help the other cause, Planned Parenthood wanted to make sure she didn't take their confidential information with her.

Friday Planned Parenthood issued a restraining order against Johnson and the Coalition for Life. The paperwork was filed October 30th and says Johnson and the Coalition for Life are "restrained from disclosing to any person or entity any document, record, file or information" that Johnson obtained from Planned Parenthood.

The full court petition says Johnson was seen removing items from the Planned Parenthood facility in October and claims she also copied confidential files. The complaint alleges she met with the Coalition for Life and shared confidential information about an out-of-town doctor and nurse practitioner who perform services at the Bryan Planned Parenthood.

But Johnson says she left on good terms and is surprised her former employer has taken legal action.

"I wouldn't say anything about the organization that was untrue or anything that was confidential information," said Abby.

The restraining order is temporary and expires November 10th. That's when Planned Parenthood, Johnson and representatives from the Coalition for Life are scheduled to appear in court to determine if an injunction needs to be issued to permanently prohibit Johnson from disclosing any information she allegedly has.

To read the full petition Planned Parenthood filed in the 85th District Court, click on the link below. Then click on Plaintiff's Original Petition at the bottom of the screen.


We ask that the following Community Standards be followed:
  • Comments must not be profane or vulgar.
  • Comments must not use hate speech, racial slurs, or violent descriptions.
  • We encourage varying views to be shared. We do ask commenters to not personally attack other readers, groups, people featured in our stories, or other posters for disagreeing with their views.
  • Comments must not contain negative, comparative debates between community standards of cities or towns.
  • Comments must contribute to the discussion, flaming and/or trolling will not be tolerated.
  • Comments must be truthful and not intentionally falsified. Providing a source link is encouraged.

If you find that a comment violates the above rules, please use the flagging option located to the right of the comment to notify the moderators.
For a complete list of guidelines, please follow this link:
http://www.kbtx.com/home/misc/Online-Commenting-Policy-181579421.html
powered by Disqus

Highlights

Most Discussed

powered by Disqus

JobSearch Recent Listings

The following list shows the 5 most recent jobs posted on JobSearch on KBTX.com

AP Video

Reason to Smile

Click here to view more pictures!
Click Here to Submit Your Pictures

Upload your photo, with a caption of your reason to smile, then watch the last half hour of BVTM from 6:30A - 7A Monday mornings to see if your photo makes it.

KBTX-TV Channel 3 4141 E. 29th Street Bryan, TX 77802 Phone: (979) 846-7777 Fax: (979) 846-1490 News Fax: (979) 846-1888
Gray Television, Inc. - Copyright © 2002-2013 - Designed by Gray Digital Media - Powered by Clickability
User Agent: CCBot/2.0 - 68761337