New York: Uber driver fired after refusing to take college student for an abortion, vilified for leaving her on the side of the road
A bad situation just kept getting worse as a story went viral after a 20-year-old college student’s Reddit post about “the worst, most backwards day” of her life got attention online after she detailed how an Uber driver left her on the side of the road after refusing to take her to an abortion facility.
Uber has now permanently banned a driver in upstate New York, confirming “that the driver was removed from the service as his actions violated the company’s community guidelines,” according to Yahoo Lifestyle.
Although the driver offered to take her back home, the student declined, and instead, after reaching her boyfriend, called a cab and went through with the abortion.
Now Claire Montgomery, a pseudonym, wants to sue the driver, and is seeking legal advice on Reddit.
Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society says he did the right thing: “Everyone has a duty to follow their correct conscience and not be coerced to act contrary to that conscience. Thus, in the case of the Uber driver who would not take the woman to an abortion clinic — he did exactly what was ethically required,” she told Life Site News in an email.
“He refused to be a party to the murder of an innocent human being, and he had every right to refuse to transport the woman to a place where she would exterminate her child,” Miller said.
“Indeed, he would have had a duty to talk her out of it — offer to take her to a pregnancy help center. Let’s put this in another context — what if he was directed to take someone to a porn shop, or to a rendezvous with a prostitute,” she pointed out.
“No one can remain apathetic and aloof from how we may be co-opted to help facilitate the performance of an evil act.”
photo Ivon19 via wikimedia commons
The Cornell University college sophomore in Ithaca, found out in March she was pregnant, explained that she was talking to her boyfriend, who attends school in North Carolina, about how her period had been about a week late. And although she had put aside the anxiety of possibly being pregnant because she had previously taken Plan B, she took a pregnancy test and realized that she was indeed carrying a child.
“The minute I saw that the test was positive I called my boyfriend, hysterical, and told him the news,” Montgomery says. “I cried for the rest of the weekend and stayed in bed. I didn’t go outside unless I absolutely had to. I shut down.”
On the Uber ride she says:
“The minute I got into the car, there was inexplicable tension. My driver didn’t greet me or confirm my name or the destination; he was just silent. After a few minutes, he asked if we were going to a Planned Parenthood,” she says.
“I was confused about why he would ask me this, considering there was nothing in the address I put in that would suggest it was a Planned Parenthood or even near one. I said, ‘No, I’m just going to a doctor’s appointment.’ A few more minutes of uncomfortable silence passed. Then he asked, ‘Are… are we going to an abortion clinic?’ I was dumbfounded.”
Montgomery admits that tears immediately came to her eyes, and she felt like her heart had stopped beating.
“All the embarrassment and shame I had been feeling the last week or so rose to the surface,” she says. “I looked at him pleadingly, silently begging him to stop.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life,” he allegedly told her. “There’s so much they don’t tell you. You’re making a mistake.”
She recounted that he pulled off at a gas station, announcing he wasn’t taking her any further (over 30 more minutes) and offered to take her back. Montgomery paid $120 for a cab that took her the remaining half-hour of the drive.
The “reason my parents or boyfriend couldn’t drive me is because they both live in North Carolina while I go to school in New York. My boyfriend couldn’t afford to buy a last minute flight to see me, and because I live in a dorm room with a roommate, there would have been no place for him to stay,” she wrote.
“My parents did manage to get a last minute flight, but they didn’t get one in time to take me to my appointment.”
Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue says the story has gone viral in the mainstream media because it can be used “vilify pro-lifers,” with the Uber driver seen as heartless for pulling over half-way through the ride.
“It seems that as the ride progressed, he became more uncomfortable and didn’t want to be a participant in killing her baby through abortion,” she told Life Site News.
“You can’t expect a person to violate his conscience,” Sullenger said.
