Ironically, it was choosing life for her own child as a teenager that nudged Franne toward a career at Planned Parenthood. “I had my daughter when I was 16 years old. I was embarrassed,” Franne said. “It pushed me toward pro-choice ideology. I am so glad I chose life, but the reality is that being a teen mom is so, so hard.”
Franne wanted other girls to have access to birth control and education. She thought that was the answer to unplanned pregnancy. She also thought that abortion was a kind of necessary evil.
“Eventually my family did become supportive of me as a teen mother,” she said. “They had a stance of ‘it’s your choice; we will support you with whatever you choose.’” But higher education was much more difficult. There is no easy access to family housing or childcare. There are long lists for those resources. “Those are the things that would have been helpful to me as a teen mom,” she reflected.
“When I first started, I assumed that I would see young teens, abuse and rape victims; girls and women who really ‘needed’ access to abortion,” Franne said.
Over time, she was shocked by the revolving door of twenty- and thirty-year-old women who used the abortion clinic as a birth control method, rather than the scared teenaged girls she expected would be her clientele.
“It bothered me. Although I went to church occasionally with my family as a child, my faith wasn’t a big part of my life growing up, Franne said. “Deep inside me I knew that abortion was wrong, but I thought it was necessary in dire situations. I didn’t like seeing it used so casually as birth control, but I tried not to judge and told myself that while I would never choose abortion for myself, I would never tell another woman what to do with her body and her situation.”
Over Franne’s last years of working in one of the two different Planned Parenthood facilities she was employed by, little things started to niggle at her conscience. She saw how women were degraded. She saw how money, and not women’s rights nor their bodily autonomy, was everything to those in leadership. She saw that instead of helping prevent abuse in the lives of women and children, she was helping to perpetrate it.
Franne returned to her roots desiring to learn more about her faith.
“Being Hispanic, Catholicism is basically embedded into our culture, but I wasn’t committed to it. I experienced a very emotional breakup and wondered what was wrong with me,” Franne said. “I felt used and broken. I knew I needed to return to God, and I found a local parish that taught the Word.”
Franne was impressed with how the church leaders and members expressed themselves and with the genuine peace and joy they showed her and each other. She started really reading the Bible for herself, praying, and questioning if she should be working at Planned Parenthood.
“I asked God to show me, and it was like he removed the scales from my eyes,” she said. “I was thinking about getting out immediately and I heard about another job at a Community Health Center. I interviewed and they hired me right away.”
Franne didn’t even care about how much money she would be making, she just wanted out of Planned Parenthood in the worst way. It turned out that she was making two more dollars an hour at the Community Health Center.
“It was such a blessing,” Franne said. “After working at a clinic that offered real comprehensive health care, I began to notice that Planned Parenthood really offers nothing but abortion to women. I felt so bamboozled by believing that Planned Parenthood was health care.”
Franne never really shared her experiences working at Planned Parenthood with her friends, family, or church. She wasn’t sure how people would react to her.
“I knew no one who could relate to my experience,” she said. “I held it in. I didn’t want to face the reality of what I had done and expose it to the light. I was so ashamed.”
“In 2017, a local prayer volunteer informed me about And Then There Were None and their healing services for former abortion workers,” she said. “I contacted Abby, and eventually found myself heading to a healing retreat in Texas.”
“I didn’t know what to expect. I really needed to connect to other workers who have shared the same experiences. In the core of my being, somehow, I felt my participation in the abortion industry had damaged me, and I needed healing.”
Another part of the retreat that made a substantial impact on Franne was the way they were taught to humanize the babies – even calling them babies – which was not something that she had been in the habit of doing during her years in the abortion industry, or even after.
“I came to understand just how good Planned Parenthood is at dehumanizing babies. Wow… it makes sense now. We made them seem meaningless. Like, this is just some tissue, and we never used the word ‘baby’.”
Franne enjoyed bonding with the other Quitters. Some even live near her and she has spent time with them in person.
“It is very motivating and inspiring to see that women are still walking away from the abortion industry,” she said.
Since she walked away, Franne has been highly active in the pro-life movement. She leads her local 40 Days for Life prayer vigils, attends And Then There Were None healing retreats and church retreats, has spoken on a panel of former abortion clinic workers, and attended the Pro-Life Women’s Conference.
Franne was also called upon to speak to and testify against several pro-abortion bills in California. She is also a Board Advisor for a pro-life teen camp.
She has also recently accepted a job as the Associate Executive Director of a pregnancy center in California.
“I am so excited to serve my community in a life-giving and loving way,” she said. “The culture there is just so different. They are mindful of the fact that I have a family, and they are my priority. They care about me not only as an employee, but as a person.”
Franne now has two daughters, one who is 22, and her baby who is 3 years old. She will be getting married in September.
“My fiancé is a committed Christian and God is in our relationship. I never imagined that I could be living a life like this. He has known me for 20 years and he has seen my priorities and values completely change.”
The more healing Franne received, the more open she became about her pro-life beliefs. She is now confident and educated and her time on the sidewalk has helped her hone her skills and help women and families in crisis. She would urge any worker who is considering leaving the clinic to give And Then There Were None a chance.
“They will love you like you never have been. Give them a chance and see for yourself. You can trust them. You won’t be sorry.”