Don’t be fooled: Requiring Planned Parenthood to report sexual abuse is a good thing

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a proposed rule change to the federal Title X family planning program in the Federal Register, which reiterates the requirement that recipients and subrecipients of those tax dollars must, by law, report sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The move comes on the heels of an investigative report and docuseries published by Live Action, which reveals a systemic decades-long sexual abuse cover-up by Planned Parenthood, one of the largest recipients to Title X funds.

As Live Action News has previously documented, Title X requires recipients of the government dollars to comply with all federal and state laws involving the reporting of sexual abuse. In 2015 alone, 474 of the organization’s facilities received funding from the federal program.

Live Action’s alarming investigative report opens with this statement from a sexual abuse victim taken to Planned Parenthood for an abortion to cover the predator’s crime:

Sex Abuse Cover Up at Planned Parenthood - Recorded Cases

Live Action’s report, “Aiding Abusers, Planned Parenthood’s cover-up of child sexual abuse,” also includes a few horrific cases documenting Planned Parenthood’s complicity in covering child sexual abuse:

Though Live Action has exclusively documented many of Planned Parenthood’s failures and cover-ups, Live Action’s investigative report includes information gleaned from other groups who have participated in legal actions or contributions to the public record, including “reams of documents from lawsuits, court filings, and regulatory agency reports.” Those groups include Alliance Defending Freedom, Life Legal Defense Foundation, Life Dynamics, Americans United for Life, and others.

The proposed Title X rule change indicates that Planned Parenthood and other recipients of Title X funds cannot hide behind “confidentiality” to skirt state and federal laws. It states in part:

Under Section 59.17: Compliance With Reporting Requirements, the proposal adds:

The rule also includes, “those State or local laws respecting intimate partner violence and human trafficking because such criminal activities would be encompassed within the categories of crime enumerated in the Appropriations Act (“child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, or incest”)… Title X grantees and subrecipients have an affirmative obligation to comply with notification or reporting requirements; merely being aware of such requirements is insufficient to comply with the law.”

One might assume that reporting abuse, specifically child sexual abuse, is not an unreasonable requirement for agencies receiving tax dollars. But in a time of intolerance toward the enabling of sexual abuse brought on in part by the MeToo and TimesUp movements, Planned Parenthood continues to receive these taxpayer funds, despite mounting evidence that they protect abusers by failing to report abuse, often in violation of the law.

Planned Parenthood has little interest in identifying the age of partners of minor children who seek their services. And in a 2008 Live Action investigation, when directly told that an adult is having sex with an underaged minor, Planned Parenthood employees have been shown coach potential sexual abuse victims to lie about the age of their abusers:

Sex Abuse Cover Up at Planned Parenthood - Statutory Rape Investigation

In addition, undercover footage captured by the Center for Medical Progress reveals that other abortion providers find mandatory reporting laws unreasonable. In footage now removed from YouTube, a National Abortion Federation abortion provider bemoaned the law as forcing abortion businesses to be a “state actor.” A transcript of the comments were captured by the blog Clinic Quotes, as follows:

Under HHS’ proposed rules, deliberate skirting of mandatory reporting laws would no longer be acceptable. The rule states:

According to former staffers, Planned Parenthood has looked the other way for years when abuse victims entered their doors. Live Action’s investigative report quotes some of these whistleblowers, including Monica Cline, former health educator who worked with Planned Parenthood in Texas and New Mexico:

Sex Abuse Cover Up at Planned Parenthood - Former Workers

Statements like this are a reason HHS has added in the proposed rule:

“Even in the rare situation where Planned Parenthood may attempt to argue that it has no legal obligation to report a specific instance of suspected sexual abuse, most people would agree that adults in a position of authority have a moral obligation to do so, especially when the abuse involves minors,” Live Action’s report states, noting, “Despite the evidence that this reporting problem seems to be part of Planned Parenthood’s culture and a ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy regarding underage pregnancies seems to be prevalent throughout the organization, Planned Parenthood affiliates continue to receive Title X funding and children continue to remain trapped in abusive situations.”

Because of this, the HHS proposed rule § 59.17 would “require grantees and subrecipients to maintain records that would identify, among other things, the age of any minor clients served, the age of their sexual partner(s) where required by law, and what reports or notifications were made to appropriate State agencies. The Department would use this documentation to ensure appropriate compliance with State and local reporting requirements.”

The public has until July 31, 2018 to file a comment, here or here.