Planned Parenthood Staffer Fired After Reporting Illegal 28-Week Abortion

A former Planned Parenthood executive says she was fired after reporting that an abortionist killed an unborn child about 28 weeks into pregnancy during an after-hours abortion in the basement.

Jacqueline Colyer, formerly vice president of human resources for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, has sued for wrongful termination. Her complaint alleges that in 2022, Colleen McNicholas, then the affiliate’s chief medical officer, performed an unauthorized late-term abortion at the Fairview Heights center.

According to the lawsuit, employee Kris Winkleman told Colyer that her subordinate, Jamia Swift, was called on a Sunday night and told to unlock the building.

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“Swift received the call from Colleen McNicolas, M.D., the Chief Medical Officer of PPGRMO, sometime around 7:00 PM on a Sunday in 2022,” the complaint says. “Upon information and belief, shortly after the call, Swift arrived at the facility and unlocked the door to provide McNicholas with access. Upon information and belief, Swift alleges that McNicholas required access to the facility to perform an abortion on an individual who was around 28 weeks. Winkleman reported this violation to Colyer in early 2024.”

Colyer said Planned Parenthood policy required staff to report suspected illegal activity and promised confidential protection through a third-party tip system, ReportIt.

She filed an anonymous complaint on July 10, 2024, “stating that she feared she would be fired if the report were not truly anonymous” and asking investigators to review cameras and after-hours key-fob records and to determine “who admitted the physician, who administered anesthesia, and who locked the building.”

The lawsuit says she was immediately removed from the matter, contrary to the organization’s own whistleblower policy.

Richard Muniz — the interim president and CEO, general counsel and chief compliance officer — allegedly ran the investigation.

On July 31, 2024, a second anonymous complaint described an abortion “provided in the basement of our clinic on a Sunday,” in violation of law and late in the woman’s pregnancy.

Colyer then received what the suit calls the only written discipline of her tenure: a “First written warning” signed by Muniz charging “insubordination and dishonesty.”

On Sept. 4, 2024, she contacted board president Sheila Greenbaum, reported the abortion again and repeated her fear of retaliation. Two days later she began medical leave. She said Muniz cut off her access.

She returned Dec. 9, 2024, and was fired that day.

“I’m sure you know what’s happening. You are not a good fit,” Muniz said, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint says he pressed her to sign a separation agreement waiving legal claims and that her position was filled immediately.

Colyer argues Missouri’s at-will rule does not allow an employer to punish a worker for reporting a violation of law. The abortion she reported “was illegal and constitutes a violation of the law and clearly mandated public policy,” the suit says.