ANZO Sea Org Abortions

[Fabian Marcabian]

It has long been a practice in the Sea Org to pressure Pregnant SO women to have abortions. This came about as a result of the child care scene in Pac being a flappy area, with repeated Hill 10s on staffing, cleanliness, health inspections etc. It just never ran smoothly, primarily due to children being a low priority......typical Sea Org attitude. After one particularly crazy incident in the late 80's, with a CMO Pac messenger trying to get their LRH compliances stat up by trying to renovate an entire apartment block and move every family that had children in Pac plus the cadet org into this building in the same week it was being renovated, starting with the cadets, and all the parents ordered to move in Wed night. Well the resultant chaos flapped all the way to God, and a week or so later we had the first version of the SO "no babies" rule.

On paper, this rule moved all SO parents with children under 6 into Class IV orgs till their kids were bigger. In application, it created a new ethics offence. That of letting your 2nd dynamic cut across SO production. People who dared to get pregnant were subjected to lower conditions, harrassment and enormous pressure to have abortions. Some resisted and left the SO, usually not allowed to go until days before the birth, then sent to a very small downstat org with no money. Those that didn't resist would have the abortion. This became commonplace.

As anyone who has had an abortion, or been close to someone who has had an abortion, or audited someone who has had an abortion knows, the emotional trauma it causes is immense. IMO, it is also a totally unreasonable request for a church to demand of its parishoners, or an employer to demand of its employees.

Is there anyone on this board who has a personal story to tell about coerced abortion in the SO, or is a direct witness to these abortions? Particularly in Australia, where the action seems to be at the moment.

 

[Fabian Marcabian]

Originally posted by SabinaM in ANZO Staff Sea Org / Request for Data

Shader, I remembered something that happened while I was in the SO that is along the lines of what you were asking. One of my friends got pregnant while she was in the SO and got in a ton of ethics trouble because she refused to have an abortion. She and her husband were put on what is called a Non-Enturbulation Order, which means that if one single report is written on them about something bad one or both of them has done, they will get instantly declared SP. They weren't allowed to speak to each other for months and they weren't allowed to sleep in the same room or have any contact with each other at all. They made a lot of noise and eventually they were allowed to leave because it was too much trouble trying to keep them at the Base, but they're stuck with a combined Freeloader bill of over $20,000 AUD.

 

[Panda Termint]

It has long been a practice in the Sea Org to pressure Pregnant SO women to have abortions. This came about as a result of the child care scene in Pac being a flappy area, with repeated Hill 10s on staffing, cleanliness, health inspections etc. It just never ran smoothly, primarily due to children being a low priority......typical Sea Org attitude. After one particularly crazy incident in the late 80's, with a CMO Pac messenger trying to get their LRH compliances stat up by trying to renovate an entire apartment block and move every family that had children in Pac plus the cadet org into this building in the same week it was being renovated, starting with the cadets, and all the parents ordered to move in Wed night. Well the resultant chaos flapped all the way to God, and a week or so later we had the first version of the SO "no babies" rule.

On paper, this rule moved all SO parents with children under 6 into Class IV orgs till their kids were bigger. In application, it created a new ethics offence. That of letting your 2nd dynamic cut across SO production. People who dared to get pregnant were subjected to lower conditions, harrassment and enormous pressure to have abortions. Some resisted and left the SO, usually not allowed to go until days before the birth, then sent to a very small downstat org with no money. Those that didn't resist would have the abortion. This became commonplace.

As anyone who has had an abortion, or been close to someone who has had an abortion, or audited someone who has had an abortion knows, the emotional trauma it causes is immense. IMO, it is also a totally unreasonable request for a church to demand of its parishoners, or an employer to demand of its employees.

Is there anyone on this board who has a personal story to tell about coerced abortion in the SO, or is a direct witness to these abortions? Particularly in Australia, where the action seems to be at the moment.

Thanks for starting this as a separate thread, Fabian.
I don't think you'll have to wait too long for the horror stories, ANZO has been subject to the same SO-inspired aberrations on "Family" and the "Procreation and Rearing of Children".

 

[Feral]

First of all a big welcome Fabian. I hope you enjoy the board and the people here.

I recall that when Shane Brockoff was on his GAT training at flag his wife had a baby back in Aus, I was at flag at the time and recall he could not get leave to go back and see her.

The next I knew they were divorced and she had to go C/S in a cl V org as a single parent with two kids. I do not know how she pulled it all together working for staff pay, she must have had to 'wog job' as well, it must be hell on earth for her. I did hear she and their eldest were very bitter that their father had no interest in them.

I guess the SO invested too much money in GATTing Brockdoff to allow him the luxury of raising his kids and looking after his wife.

I am sure Julie would have been pressured to abort the kid, failing that they obviously had more luck convincing the brave father that he needed to divorce her.

 

[ttamaad]

I did hear she and their eldest were very bitter that their father had no interest in them.

I am sure Julie would have been pressured to abort the kid, failing that they obviously had more luck convincing the brave father that he needed to divorce her.

yes, welcome Fabian, good to see you here

As for this example of our Mr Brockdorf, it goes without saying that he has shown everyone what a true coward looks like!!!

 

[HappyGirl]

Welcome Fabian. I have no personal stories relating to that, but this is an interesting thread you started.

 

[KnightVision]

Hello
Fabian!

 

[minnie]

Elaine Allen had recruited a class 5 org staff member for the S.O. Anyway, this woman discovered she was now pregnant, much to Elaine's fury at potentially losing her prospect, so Elaine tried to convince the woman to get an abortion. The woman refused.

 

[Stan D'Teque]

Feral you are totally on the money - it was common knowledge in CLO that there were attempts to "handle" Julie at the time - once that failed, Shane was "handled" - one "handler" who I got the info off left the SO within a few years.
While on the subject of ANZO (esp. Sydney abortions), this one isn't SO but a certain staff member became pregnant to a future Freedom Medal winner and was "handled" by him and the then-ED to go ahead with the pregnancy. She did, only to find out that not long after her handling, the ED had an abortion because she'd gotten pregnant to a younger man who had no interest in her and CLO "handled" her to terminate. Messy messy messy.

 

[Carmel]

Not a forced abortion, but.....

It was toward the end of '82. I was a TTC graduate and had been full time staff C/S for about a year, before replacing the Qual Sec - I was at this time, newly on post as Qual Sec and holding the staff C/S post 'from above' (the load of staff C/S had diminshed greatly due to staff 'rip off's' from up lines).

I discovered that I was pregnant in the October. Shykes - it wasn't planned, and it didn't fit into the scheme of things (I had gone off the pill a few years earlier, and being ignorant about the fact that sperm can live for 'days' in some cases - I didn't use the diaphram at times that I should have).

Abortion wasn't an option for me. I knew that me being pregnant would go down like a lead balloon, so besides talking to my hubby about it, I kept my lips sealed for a while!

Then I made it known. It was horrible! I had around six different interviews with senior execs, who tried to convince me to have an abortion. I went to ethics about three times, and to cramming a few times for FDSing as obviously my 'held down seven' was due to me being a good little 'Catholic' girl!

It was shoved in my face that the org had invested all this time and money training me, and that now I was going to throw it all away. It was also shoved in my face, that we had already 'lost' two C/ses, and the other C/S in the org (Genny my bridesmaid who was about 5 months at the time), was already having a baby and me having one, just wasn't an option.

I pointed out to them, that I had audited and/or C/Sed for SO crew and staff who were forced to have abortions, and that under no circumstances was I going to subject myself to the kind of 'charge' that they had, by submitting and having an abortion. These people 'handling' me, then assigned the 'mental charge' associated with the forced abortions, to similar brainwashing from the catholics. The whole fiasco and guilt trip was a mind fuck, and it continued until the point that I was over three months, and an abortion was no longer an option.

A little while after this, I started 'bleeding'. I didn't know what this was about. I asked the older female execs in the org about it, and all three said it was normal and not to worry about it. Then it got heavier - the advice was to use a 'pad' (sorry boys!). I suggested that maybe I should go and see the doctor, but I wasn't given 'permission' to. I was told that everything was OK and 'normal', and that there was no reason to worry. I trusted these people, and was so naive at the time about such things, that I took what they said on board, and plodded on.

I kept 'bleeding'. On new years eve, I started to get 'pains' (which after having three kids since, I can now label as labour pains). I saw the HAS and told her. She saw the CO and the Tech Sec about it. They told me not to be case on post, to see the day out, and then go home and rest over the weekend.

Being ignorant to what was going on , I stayed on post and then after post went home. I was bleeding profusely, but being a total 'dummy' in the area - I didn't realize that I was losing body blood through my uterus! My hubby called my sister in-law who was a nurse, and when she saw me, she got me straight to hospital. I went on a drip, had a D and C under a general aneasthetic, and all was then well - obviously though, I had lost the baby.

I went back onto post on the Monday, and nothing more was mentioned about my pregnancy that conveniently went away!

I have no upset on it now - I had three sons soon afterward in '86, '87 and '89. We have wonderful sons and a great family, and I wouldn't swap exactly what we have for quids! However, at the time I was gutted, and at the time I sensed and/or could see the jubilation by too many about my loss, and that made things worse.

 

[HappyGirl]

Jeez, Ceedia!

 

[Emma]

Bastards.

 

[minnie]

That is criminal, that's two lives they didn't give a damn about in the pursuit of their product. I am glad you made it to hospital, Carmel. Sorry about your loss.

 

[Pixie]

Ceedia

I can't imagine how horrendous this was for you Ceedia. What a bunch of ignorant cruel and uncaring pigs they were.

I also had a miscarraige while on staff. I was only three months and like you began bleeding profusely and had a lot of pain. I just remember being under an extreme amount of stress after being forced to either get married or split from my then boyfriend and then when we did get married there was even more trouble. You couldn't ever win or please them, it was psychosis in the extreme. Thankfully I wasn't in the SO at the time. They have a lot to answer for. But to force abortions, it's almost unspeakable, but all too easy to go into agreement considering one was already harrased and tired and stressed in the extreme. I remember a couple of SO members when I was at SH getting pregnant and it being seen as a huge 'flap', absolutely disgusting.

 

[Fabian Marcabian]

Ceedia, that story is gutwrenching. I had thought the forced abortions started in the late 80's and only in the SO. Looks like Australia got a head start on it. Mind you, 1982 was probably the wildest year in Scientology history. Good on ya' for not going into agreement with your seniors.

 

[SchwimmelPuckel]

Public service link to
OCMB/Abortion in the Sea Org - "Self-Determination?"

.

 

[Carmel]

Not a forced abortion, but.....

Ceedia, that story is gutwrenching. I had thought the forced abortions started in the late 80's and only in the SO. Looks like Australia got a head start on it. Mind you, 1982 was probably the wildest year in Scientology history. Good on ya' for not going into agreement with your seniors.

Thanks Fabian,

FYI -Our CO ANZO in the early 80's (Phyll Stevens - the one who replaced Mike Ives I think), was so anti 2D, it wasn't funny! She thought kids were 'dev-t' and was black on anyone who thought otherwise. She was someone from the 'old guard' who had a warped idea that anything and everything that wasn't directly to do with the 3rd dynamic was 'out ethics'. She was fucked up big time in my view - but sadly so many thought of her and considered her, as a bloody legend! What she said, went - it seemed!

I don't know the sit in the States or anywhere else in the early 80's, but I do know that Phyll Stevens certainly was a major influence in regard to bulk 'forced' abortions in Sydney!

Carmel

 

[Fabian Marcabian]

First of all a big welcome Fabian. I hope you enjoy the board and the people here.

I recall that when Shane Brockoff was on his GAT training at flag his wife had a baby back in Aus, I was at flag at the time and recall he could not get leave to go back and see her.

The next I knew they were divorced and she had to go C/S in a cl V org as a single parent with two kids. I do not know how she pulled it all together working for staff pay, she must have had to 'wog job' as well, it must be hell on earth for her. I did hear she and their eldest were very bitter that their father had no interest in them.

I guess the SO invested too much money in GATTing Brockdoff to allow him the luxury of raising his kids and looking after his wife.

I am sure Julie would have been pressured to abort the kid, failing that they obviously had more luck convincing the brave father that he needed to divorce her.

Thanks Feral! I'm feeling quite at home here already.

Was this THE Shane Brockdorf of Reverse Auditing Infamy. Sounds like he's a classic example the most ethical group on the planet.

Is Julie still in Scientology?

 

[Carmel]

Thanks Feral! I'm feeling quite at home here already.

Was this THE Shane Brockdorf of Reverse Auditing Infamy. Sounds like he's a classic example the most ethical group on the planet.

Is Julie still in Scientology?

FYI - Julie is still on staff as Syd Day C/S - she is and always was an absolute doll!

 

[Fabian Marcabian]

Thanks Fabian,

FYI -Our CO ANZO in the early 80's (Phyll Stevens - the one who replaced Mike Ives I think), was so anti 2D, it wasn't funny! She thought kids were 'dev-t' and was black on anyone who thought otherwise. She was someone from the 'old guard' who had a warped idea that anything and everything that wasn't directly to do with the 3rd dynamic was 'out ethics'. She was fucked up big time in my view - but sadly so many thought of her and considered her, as a bloody legend! What she said, went - it seemed!

I don't know the sit in the States or anywhere else in the early 80's, but I do know that Phyll Stevens certainly was a major influence in regard to bulk 'forced' abortions in Sydney!

Carmel

This is very good information. Thanks Carmel!