PP Chula VIsta
By Cheryl Sullenger
San Diego, CA — A quietly-handled wrongful termination lawsuit brought in San Diego, California, against Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest gives insight into Planned Parenthood’s defensive mechanisms that kick into full throttle when employees fail to march in lockstep.
But more disturbingly, it reveals something sinister about Planned Parenthood’s unethical treatment of at least one minor girl and its aggressive eagerness to cannibalize one of their own rather than admit there might be serious internal problems.
The 2014 suit was explained in a well-written piece that appeared in the San Diego Reader, a quirky, alternative newspaper that focuses on the trendy – and often gritty – cultural side of San Diego. Amid the bright promotions of local events, flashy concert advertisements, restaurant reviews and personal ads, one can find some of the best investigative reporting anywhere. The Reader dares to go where mainstream media will not, including behind the veil of obfuscation that usually characterizes abortion rhetoric that is force-fed to the public.
The case is Murray v. Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. It was brought by Carla M. Murray, nurse practitioner with an exemplary employment record who worked for Planned Parenthood for over ten years.
Murray worked at Planned Parenthood’s Chula Vista clinic, which offers abortion pills, birth control, STD testing, and other services to the primarily Hispanic community near the border with Mexico.
Murray’s problems began in mid-2012 when she reported to the clinic manager, Thelma Mendoza, that employees were accessing the clinic’s drug cabinet and dispensing drugs to patients without proper authorization in violation of California law.
Murray’s suit contends that Mendoza began to retaliate against her by writing her up for exaggerated and blatantly fabricated infractions. Murray alleges that Mendoza went so far as to sabotage her attempt to move to another Planned Parenthood clinic.
The final straw came on March 8, 2013, when a woman brought her minor step-daughter to the Chula Vista Planned Parenthood clinic for birth control. The young girl indicated to Murray that she did not want the Depo-Provera birth control shot. It became apparent to Murray that her young patient was being forced by her step-mother into taking a birth control injection that she did not want and apparently did not need.
Instead, after receiving guidance from Janeen Bullison, Planned Parenthood’s Quality Assurance Manager, Murray gave the minor girl “emergency contraception, condoms, and educational handouts” in lieu of the Depo-Provera shot.
Afterwards, the step-mother became irate and could be heard “screaming” at staff and demanding that her step-daughter be given a birth control injection. Murray contacted Mendoza’s supervisor, Julia Jura, for additional guidance but was told by Jura to allow Mendoza to handle the situation.
According to Murray’s suit, a medical assistant was illegally ordered by Mendoza to give the minor girl the Depo-Provera injection, even though Mendoza is unlicensed and not qualified to authorize drugs to patients.
This action violated Planned Parenthood’s own Mission Statement, which asserts that patients should be allowed to “manage their own fertility” regardless of their age. Could it be that such statements are merely window-dressing for a gullible public?
“It is clearly illegal and unethical to force a birth control injection on anyone against their will. Yet, Planned Parenthood seemed unbothered by the effects on their young patient, both physically and emotionally,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It seems that if a parent is in opposition to child receiving an abortion or birth control, they have no rights. However, if the parent is the one coercing a child into an unwanted abortion or forced birth control, then it is their wishes that prevail. We have to wonder how many girls there are out there that have been forced into ‘reproductive services’ such as abortion and birth control against their will and bear the emotional scars today. It’s probably more than we think.”
Murray reported the incident and lodged a complaint against Mendoza for practicing medicine without a license. She was promised an investigation, but days later, she was told that there had been no wrong-doing on Mendoza’s part.
It appears that there was an orchestrated conspiracy inside Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest at the highest levels to protect Mendoza from the consequences of illegal actions that she committed and allowed, while vilifying the one that attempted to set things right.
Four days later, on March 30, 2013, Murray was terminated in an act that she believes was in retaliation for blowing the whistle on Mendoza.
After months of legal motions and maneuvers, the case was set for trial on August 14, 2015. However, it is now seems that the facts will never see the inside of a courtroom.
On June 30, Planned Parenthood settled the suit with Murray and the case was dismissed.
Who knows what other information would have come out in open trial? Now we will never know.
“It would have served the public to allow this case to go to trial, but it would not have served Planned Parenthood’s interests. Now, the full reality of apparently illegal activity that led to the abuse and violation of a minor girl will never be told in court,” said Newman. “This only guarantees that the abuses will continue at Planned Parenthood and that employees that witness them will be too intimidated to speak out.”
The San Diego Reader asked, “Who’s giving injections at Planned Parenthood?”
The answer is something Planned Parenthood has gone to great lengths – and expense — to hide. In the meantime, a young girl has been violated by those who were entrusted with her care and protection.
She and others like her are the true losers in this case.

Read the Murray v. Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest complaint.
Read the summary of actions in this case.
Read the San Diego Reader article