Planned Parenthood has failed to report child sexual abuse for decades (part two)

Part one of this series demonstrated Planned Parenthood’s failure to report child sexual abuse in several states, including Alabama, Arizona, and California. Part two expands this list to include Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.

Colorado:

• According to a 2014 lawsuit filed against Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and several of its staffers, a 13-year-old child was taken to Planned Parenthood by her rapist, and it does not appear that a report was filed. The document states, in part:

On May 3, 2012, R.Z. was thirteen (13) years of age and had been the victim of sexual abuse by her step-father, Timothy David Smith (“Smith”) for approximately seven (7) years… Approximately three weeks prior to May 3, 2012, R.Z. took a pregnancy test at the direction of Smith, due to concerns that she might be pregnant. The test indicated that R.Z. was pregnant. A few days to a week before May 3, 2012, Smith pressured R.Z. to call Planned Parenthood to make an appointment for an abortion. The appointment for an abortion was scheduled for May 3, 2012 at Planned Parenthood’s 7155 East 38th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80207, location. On May 3, 2012, Smith transported R.Z. to Planned Parenthood’s facility… for her appointment and accompanied her inside the facility. In connection with the abortion, Planned Parenthood required certain forms to be completed. Although R.Z. wrote her date of birth and signed some of the forms, the majority of the forms were completed by Smith, and R.Z. did not read them…

The lawsuit goes on to state that no one at Planned Parenthood spoke to the victim about potential sexual abuse nor verified her relationship with Smith. In fact, they did not talk with the victim at all regarding the circumstances of her pregnancy. R.Z. reported the abuse to her mother months later while Smith was out of the home.

A report from Alliance Defending Freedom revealed [emphasis added]:

One Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood employee admitted in a deposition in the civil suit that “being 13 and pregnant alone is not a red flag” for the organization. According to court documents, no Planned Parenthood employee inquired into the nature of the girl’s relationship with the predator or about potential abuse even though she is a minor. The step-father has since been convicted and incarcerated for his crimes.

Connecticut:

In 2007, police issued an arrest affidavit for Adam Gault in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a young teen girl whom he held captive in his home. It revealed that the 15-year-old victim had recently had an abortion at Planned Parenthood in West Hartford. Authorities said DNA tests on the girl’s aborted baby showed that Gault had gotten her pregnant; however, he was not turned in by the abortion chain.

Indiana:

• In 2006, Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPI) attempted to prevent the Attorney General of Indiana from gaining “unlimited access” to the medical records of several minor patients while the state investigated PPI for the possibility that it failed to report child sexual abuse. According to the complaint, the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (IMFCU) was investigating a complaint that PPI “neglected 73 of its minor patients by failing to report child sexual abuse as required by Indiana law.”

• A 2013 report published by Indiana Right to Life revealed that numerous abortions on young girls under age 14 were “not reported” to authorities “as required by state law.” The report, titled Gaps in Indiana Teen Abortion Reporting, claimed that at least four Indiana abortion doctors failed to report abortions on young girls under age 14 in the time frame they were required to under Indiana law. A South Bend Tribune report states that two of the abortions were performed at Planned Parenthood. It reads in part:

Two other abortions in 2012, performed by Dr. Michael King from Indianapolis, were not reported until several weeks later, according to state records. The abortions were performed at Planned Parenthood Georgetown Health Center in Indianapolis. Its parent organization, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said it would not comment on specific cases but sent a statement from Liz Carroll, vice president of patient services.

Ohio:

• Denise Fairbanks claims Planned Parenthood’s “don’t ask/don’t tell” policies caused her to undergo additional abuse after she was taken there by her abuser, John Blanks. In her lawsuit filed against Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region and several staffers, Fairbanks claims that she told Planned Parenthood about her abuse, but that they failed to report the abuse to the authorities:

When Denise arrived at Planned Parenthood’s clinic on November 15, 2004, she was 16 years old and had become pregnant as a result of the sexual abuse by her biological father…. Denise tried to put an end to this abuse, which had started in 2000, by informing a Planned Parenthood employee that she has been forced to have sex and to do things she did not want to do…. Planned Parenthood and at least one other of the defendants did not report their knowledge that Denise was a victim of sexual abuse.

• In 2006, Joseph Coles was charged in a 242-count indictment with rape, kidnapping, gross sexual imposition, and child endangering in connection with the molestation of his stepdaughter, “S.D.,” who was forced to abort two babies he fathered. A court document available online describes her unbelievable ordeal:

S.D. testified that while her mother was at work, Coles would have sex with S.D. in his bedroom or in the living room…. S.D. did get pregnant, and had an abortion when she was twelve years old…. S.D. learned she was pregnant again in March 2004. She told her mother that she had become pregnant by a boy at school, even though it was Coles who had impregnated her. S.D. testified that she had another abortion, even though she did not want to. She testified that a week after the April 2, 2004 abortion, Coles told her that she should be healed and forced her to have sex with him again…. In June 2005, S.D. finally told her mother about Coles’ “raping” her and that the pregnancies were the result of his abuse. S.D. moved back to Cleveland to live with relatives and Dawn reported the abuse to Iowa police.

Additional details located in the police report, which was provided to Life Dynamics, reveal that when the victim became pregnant in 2004, she was taken to Planned Parenthood in Shaker Heights but refused to submit to the abortion. She relented three days later and was taken to the Preterm Abortion Clinic in Cleveland for the procedure. Police were not notified until June of the following year, indicating that neither Planned Parenthood nor Preterm contacted the police previously, leaving the victim to suffer further assaults.

• 21-year-old John J. Haller coerced his young teen victim to have an abortion against her will. According to ChildPredators.com, Haller instructed the girl to call a Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati and make an appointment using his cell phone number instead of her father’s. At the clinic, he passed himself off as her stepbrother and paid for the abortion. The sexual relationship continued, indicating that Planned Parenthood did not report the situation to authorities.

Pennsylvania:

A report by Pro-life Action League (PLAL) indicates that a Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood was cited by state inspectors for failure to report child abuse. PLAL states that on August 29, 2013, Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors conducted an annual registration survey of Planned Parenthood’s Locust Street Health Center and discovered that the center was not reporting the sexual activity of minor girls as young as 13. The report revealed that in several instances, Planned Parenthood failed to inquire, as required by state law, if the sexual partners of these minors were at least four years older. Despite the fact that two of the girls admitted to being sexually active since the ages of 11 and 12, Planned Parenthood did not inquire about the possibility of sexual abuse, nor did staff report the cases as required by law.

Conclusion

Any organization claiming to be a health provider who receives funding under Title X is at risk of being defunded, if they violate federal and state mandatory reporting requirements. Yet Planned Parenthood, which has apparently shown a pattern of violating these reporting requirements — or skating by just under the law — (as well as committing Medicaid fraud in family planning programs) continues to receive millions of tax dollars under the government’s family planning program.

It is time that this changed.