A Plea to Supporters of Planned Parenthood

For the purposes of this blog post, let’s forget the unborn. I won’t ask you to change your views on abortion. In fact, we’ll put that issue completely aside.

The reason I’m willing to do that is because we have more common ground than might be readily apparent. Our divergent paths cross at least on one point: the sexual abuse of minors. Pro-life and pro-choice advocates can agree that it is a despicable evil for anyone to exploit underage children.

What does Planned Parenthood have to do with any of this? The answer is sobering, and I will divide it into two separate points below. In short, I want to show how Planned Parenthood is habitually guilty of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of minors.

1. STATUTORY RAPE (NON-CONSENSUAL)

The website Child Predators has documented over 50 cases in 22 states in which an underage girl was sexually assaulted, taken to a Planned Parenthood (or PP-affiliated) center for an abortion by the perpetrator, and was not reported to authorities. If you do a little online research, you can find news articles confirming the details of these cases. Dates range from 1980 to 2012; about half took place after 2000.

Why is this such a big deal? Because it is illegal in all 50 states for an adult to engage in sexual activity with a minor. Furthermore, healthcare workers are required by law to report each incident of even alleged sexual assault.

Consider the facts of just one case from 2012. Timothy Smith took his stepdaughter, whom he had been sexually assaulting for years, to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Denver to get an abortion. The employees at PP learned that she was only thirteen, and noticed that, even though Timothy claimed to be her father, they both had different last names, and she referred to him as “Tim” instead of “Dad.” She received the abortion, as well as an injectable birth control shot—something to which she objected, but her stepfather overruled.

During all of this, the clinic workers at Planned Parenthood committed several acts of criminal negligence, including
  1. A failure to verify any of the information the stepfather gave them regarding the pregnancy, even though it was suspicious
  2. A failure to confirm consent from a birth parent before performing an abortion on a minor
As a result, Timothy was enabled to continue raping his stepdaughter for two more months before finally being caught by the girl’s birth mother. Later that year, he plead guilty to two counts of sexual abuse.

In all of this, keep in mind that a majority of sexual assaults are never reported. So, statistically speaking, the findings above represent just a fraction of the cases in which Planned Parenthood and its affiliates have turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse of minors.

2. STATUTORY RAPE (CONSENSUAL)

In 2002, an investigative group conducted a phone survey in which they called over 800 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation centers throughout the country. In each case, the caller pretended to be a 13-year-old girl who was pregnant by her 22-year-old boyfriend. The purpose was to see how clinic representatives would respond to a presented case of statutory rape in which the girl was trying to keep her pregnancy secret. Here’s just a snippet from their findings:

[Planned Parenthood and NAF employees] were willing – and in many cases eager – to help this child hide from her parents and the authorities the fact that she was being sexually exploited. Toward that end they provide step-by-step instructions on how to circumvent state laws that were enacted specifically for the purpose of protecting children exactly like her in situations just like this. . . .

From start to finish, the attributes of the employees we talked to made it brutally obvious that this is an issue they deal with routinely. In fact, several of them volunteered that they get calls like this all the time.

You don’t have to take my word for it. You can listen to each and every phone call (if you really want to) here.

ALL SYSTEMS KNOW

As a pro-choice reader, you may have a hard time swallowing information given to you by pro-life sources. You’re afraid of confirmation bias, right? I can understand that.

Note, however, that the statistics and articles and media I’ve referenced or linked to aren’t mere hearsay. They are verifiable incidents, backed up by news reports and court records. As such, these facts are inherently damning no matter one’s political or ideological persuasion.

The Timothy Smith case is a good example of how Planned Parenthood has failed to implement any adequate reforms. After Smith was convicted in late 2012, a civil suit against PP confirmed that the organization still has a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Court documents show that current PP training materials state, “PPRM policy is to not ask partner’s age” (listed under a section entitled, “Partner Looks A Lot Older”).

Or consider this example from 2014, in which an Arizona Planned Parenthood counselor intentionally miscoded a case of sexual assault as a consensual encounter. Or consider this 2014 report by the Alabama Department of Public Health, detailing how a Planned Parenthood facility “failed to report reasonable suspected abuse or neglect for a minor,” even though the child had been brought in for two abortions in the span of several months.

It would be one thing if we were talking about a few isolated events. Instead, we’re dealing with literally hundreds of incidents all across the nation, spanning over three decades. These problems are systemic. As a whole, Planned Parenthood has repeatedly shown its willingness to circumvent the law, to the possible—if not certain—detriment of its patients.

PRO-LIFERS AND PRO-CHOICERS UNITE

Over the years, I have witnessed the exposure of certain religious leaders involved in the sexual abuse of minors. These stories have saddened and sickened those inside and outside the community of faith. And rightly so. The abuse of power on display is worthy of opposition and even prosecution.

The same goes for PP’s actions detailed above. It won’t work to argue, as many have, that “Planned Parenthood still does a lot of good.” This excuse is inadequate at best and sleight-of-hand at worst. A foster parent who has molested only one of his children is unfit to parent; a politician who has covered up a felony so as not to hurt his campaign is unfit for office; a charity that hides the misdeeds of its leadership in order to save face is not a trustworthy ministry; and an organization with a penchant for putting its clients at risk of physical and emotional harm is not fit to keep its doors open.

The evidence is mounting, causing increasing public concern, even among the media. That’s why pro-choice advocate Bunnie Riedel finds it “disturbing” that PP has spent so much time circling the wagons rather than addressing the legitimate criticisms leveled against it. That’s why Vox editor Sarah Kliff similarly finds it “disturbing” and “damaging” that some Planned Parenthood officials dismiss their ethics fudging as a “specious issue.” That’s why pro-choice proponent Ruben Navarrette Jr. has solemnly agreed with the assessment that “Planned Parenthood’s system-wide conspiracy to evade the law…is now undeniable.”

So would you please join me in advocating for the elimination of Planned Parenthood? Our government, and society as a whole, must not stand idly by. To ignore the plight of the vulnerable among us is irresponsible and just plain crazy. I don’t say that because I’m pro-life and you’re pro-choice. I say that because we are all human, and we can—and should—unite in protecting the dignity, innocence, and humanity of those we all inherently agree are worth protecting: our already-born children.