Planned Parenthood has been accused of discriminating against pregnant employees, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees.

The organization known for its championing of women's rights has violated federal and state laws, with managers considering pregnancy in hiring decisions, pushing people out after they gave birth, or denying rest breaks recommended by a doctor, according to an article published on Thursday by the New York Times.

The allegations come from clinics across the country, in California, Texas, North Carolina and New York.

Additionally, though not necessarily discriminatory, 49 out of 55 of the organization's regions do not provide paid maternity leave to employees, prompting one Colorado worker to launch a GoFundMe page to pay for lost wages and emergency medical services related to giving birth eight weeks early in August.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Dr. Leana Wen, whose offices are headquartered in Manhattan, said the organization is investigating the claims lodged against it.

The headquarters provides some money and support to clinics in its 55 regions, which are otherwise funded through private donations and government reimbursement for treatment given to Medicaid patients.

Planned Parenthood has been accused of mistreating pregnant employees in several ways by more than one dozen women in California, Texas, North Carolina and New York. The sign hanging over the offices of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York City is shown in a file photo from December 7, 2001

In fiscal year 2016, Planned Parenthood clinics and regional offices brought in around $1.5 billion, half of which came from Medicaid services, a source of income which is constantly being threatened by conservative legislators.

The worry over money is a pressure for the organization that provides 2.4 million mostly low-income patients with things like cancer screenings, prenatal care, disease testing, and yes, even abortions in some places, though not all locations.

But that's no excuse for the allegations lodged against the oranization, if true.

The irony of the women's rights champion's alleged treatment of its pregnant employees was particularly painful for medical assistant Ta’Lisa Hairston, 27, while pregnant and working at a Planned Parenthood in White Plains, in the Empire State.

The 27-year-old said she took the job because of its stated commitment to women.

'Planned Parenthood helped me give women a voice to do what they wanted with their bodies,' she said.

The irony of the women's rights champion's alleged treatment of its pregnant employees was particularly painful for medical assistant Ta’Lisa Hairston, 27, while pregnant and working at a Planned Parenthood in White Plains, in New York (shown)

Hairston described how distressing it was for her as she advised her pregnant patients to take rest breaks at work and eat regular meals, while knowing she couldn't do the same for herself.

'I had to hold back tears talking to pregnant women, telling them to take care of their pregnancies when I couldn’t take care of mine,' Hairston said. 'It made me jealous.'

Hairston said she would spend 10 hours on her feet, rarely took a lunch break, and that notes from her nurse requiring her to take breaks were ignored, when it was found her high blood pressure was putting her pregnancy at risk.

Eventually her blood pressure skyrocketed and she had to be put on bed rest, only to later return to work with strict limited hour requirements that weren't adhered, which landed her on bed rest again.

After an emergency c-section a few days later, she gave birth at 34 weeks, and said she received pressure after eight weeks to return to work early, prompting her to resign in June.

'I didn’t get into the medical field to be treated like this,' she said.

Planned Parenthood regional chief executive Vincent Russell, who oversees the office where Hairston worked, denied those allegations.

Russell is the head of the Hawthorne, New York region, which has a history of problematic treatment of pregnant women, according to the Times.

Planned Parenthood was sued in 2009 by the former director of clinical services in White Plains, Tracy Webber, who said she was fired four weeks after giving birth, in a lawsuit that was settled with undisclosed terms.

A former employee who asked not be named alleged the same issue Hairston did, saying her note recommending frequent breaks was ignored by a manager in Rochester, New York. She also said that she was pressured to return early after having her baby.

At the same location, a medical assistant was fired on the day she returned from maternity leave in May, according to a former human resources manager who oversaw the clinic. That woman came to a confidential resolution with Planned Parenthood, according to her attorney Jonas Urba.

And a former human resources manager in the region, who also asked not to be named, said notes from doctors presented by pregnant employees were assumed to be excuses to work less, adding that it was perceived as lack of commitment to take a sick day.

Russell said, 'All the individuals identified in the article were treated fairly and equitably, free of any discrimination.'

Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Dr. Leana Wen (pictured), whose offices are headquartered in Manhattan, said the organization is investigating the claims lodged against it

Beyond the obvious allegations of discrimination highlighted above, other examples of alleged bias, though more subtle, are also troubling.

The women's reproductive health giant is said to have fostered an environment where women feared announcing a pregnancy to colleagues and supervisors, over worries they'd be viewed as abandoning their co-workers.

In South Florida, one current and two former Planned Parenthood employees told the Times that employees would often voluntarily share with supervisors that they were single, gay, or not planning to have children.

'It was looked down upon for you to get pregnant,' Carolina Delgado said, who worked in an office in Miami until 2012. 'I don’t think that any supervisor had to literally say it for us to feel it.'

Planned Parenthood’s head of human resources Dannette Hill, however, said that most parents who returned from leave in the Miami office were later promoted.

Other claims include being unsympathetic to workers' requests for special treatment, and seemingly viewing accommodation for expectant mothers as expensive and inconvenient.

At one Planned Parenthood in California, a former hiring manager said supervisors openly debated whether candidates were likely to get pregnant in the future, giving those who they deemed were preference for internal promotions.

The person also said the office once declined to hire a pregnant person and did promote one new mother, despite the fact that it's illegal to consider whether a job candidate is or will become pregnant under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

It came down to money, the former manager said, admitting the collective feeling was the clinic couldn't afford to promote someone who they would lose for several weeks.

Though not necessarily discriminatory, Planned Parenthood as a whole also doesn't offer paid maternity leave at locations falling under 49 of its 55 regional offices, though 20 regions allow for partially paid disability leave for new mothers.

'I believe we must do better than we are now,' Wen said in a statement.

'It’s our obligation to do better, for our staff, for their families and for our patients.'

Wen said the organization is also reviewing the cost that would be associated with providing 12,000 employees nationwide with paid maternity leave.

An employee of the organization in Colorado, a location that doesn't offered paid maternity leave, had to resort to launching a GoFundMe campaign after giving birth prematurely to a baby boy in August. Marshall, the son of Marissa Hamilton, shown

An employee of the organization in Colorado, a location that doesn't offered paid maternity leave, had to resort to launching a GoFundMe campaign after giving birth prematurely to a baby boy in August.

'On top of medical bills I cannot work,' Marissa Hamilton wrote, pleading for help to get by as she cares for her eight-week premature son, Marshall, who was born weighing less than four pounds and spent weeks in neonatal intensive care.

She's hoping to collect $15,000, and was just shy of one-third of that goal, early on Friday.

In Seattle, regional office head Christine Charbonneau inquired on the cost for just her region last year, and came back with an estimate of $2 million per year, which is equivalent to the entire annual budget for some clinics.

Opting for that kind of coverage for her region, which includes 27 clinics in the Northwest, would require some of those clinics to close.

'It is easy to accuse someone of hypocrisy if you’re not the one trying to find $2 million out of thin air,' Charbonneau said. 'You try to be the Planned Parenthood that donors expect, and yet it is unattainable.'