For Immediate Release
Judge Rules Planned Parenthood Violated the Law
Still to Rule on Other Aspects in Teen Abortion Lawsuit
Springfield, IL (Nov. 9, 2010) -- A Planned Parenthood affiliate in
Cincinnati violated the law by rushing an abortion on a then 14-year-old
girl who was pregnant as a result of sexual abuse by her soccer coach, a
judge has ruled.
The ruling
found that Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio ignored a state-mandated
24-hour waiting period before abortion and instead performed the
procedure anyway. The judge has yet to rule on other charges brought by
the girl's parents in a lawsuit, alleging that Planned Parenthood failed
to obtain consent for the abortion from the girl's parents and to notify
authorities of suspected sexual abuse--both of which are required under
state law.
The girl's 22-year-old soccer coach, who spent three years in prison for
sexual battery, posed as the girl's father and approved the abortion
over the phone, but the parents say that staff made no attempt to verify
his identity.
The family's attorney, Brian Hurley, is also representing another teen
who alleges she told Planned Parenthood that she was being sexually
abused by her father, but that staff failed to report the abuse to
authorities. The girl's father was later sentenced to five years in
prison.
Helping Predators, Harming Teens
Critics have long argued that Planned Parenthood and other abortion
businesses routinely fail to report cases of known or suspected sexual
abuse and statutory rape to authorities.
The pro-life group Live Action
has released multiple videos of Planned Parenthood staff in several
states
showing staff at abortion businesses counseling undercover operatives
posing as minors on how to get abortions without parental consent or
ignoring cases of sexual abuse. As a result of their investigations, a
Planned Parenthood clinic in Alabama was placed on probation last March
for performing abortions on underage girls without parental consent, and
failing to report suspected cases of statutory rape to authorities.
Further, an
undercover investigation by the pro-life group Life Dynamics in 2002
found that many abortion businesses were willing to help conceal sexual
abuse. A Life Dynamics staff member called abortion businesses around
the country, posing as a pregnant 13-year-old girl with a 22-year-old
"boyfriend." According to transcripts of the calls published by Life
Dynamics, staffers at many abortion clinics told the girl to conceal her
age and details of the case or gave her tips about how to circumvent
authorities in order to obtain an abortion so her parents would not have
to know of the sexual relationship.
And in 2002, a judge found a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arizona
negligent for failing to report a case in which a 13-year-old girl was
impregnated and taken for an abortion by her 23-year-old foster brother.
The abortion business did not notify authorities until the girl returned
six months later for a second abortion. A lawsuit alleged that the girl
was subjected to repeated abuse and a second abortion because Planned
Parenthood failed to notify authorities when she had her first abortion.
The girl's foster brother was later imprisoned for abusing her.1
Abortion
Likely to Harm, Not Help
Some would
argue that a girl who becomes pregnant in an abusive relationship would
be helped by abortion, whether her parents know of the situation or not.
But evidence suggests that, in addition to causing the death of their
unborn children, abortion is likely to harm, not help, these girls.
One of the
only surveys ever done of women who became pregnant through sexual
assault found that:
Nearly 80 percent of the women who aborted a pregnancy conceived in
sexual assault reported that abortion had been the wrong solution.
Most women who had abortions said that abortion only increased the
trauma they were experiencing.
In many cases, the victim faced strong pressure or demands to abort
and in some cases, especially those involving teenage girls, was
even forced to have the abortion by others.
None of the women who gave birth to a child conceived in sexual
assault expressed regret or wished they had aborted instead.2
Studies that examine risk factors for psychological problems after
abortion have found that adolescents, women with a history of sexual
assault or abuse, and those who have a second- or third-trimester
abortion are all more likely to have difficulty coping after abortion.
Other
research has found that teens who abort an unintended pregnancy are more
likely to experience negative mental health outcomes than are teens who
carry the unintended pregnancy to term.3
Teens are also six times more likely to commit suicide than are
older women who give birth, and experience other negative outcomes.
As one
woman, who was impregnated by her stepfather at the age of 12 and forced
to have an abortion, wrote in the book Victims and Victors:
"Throughout the years I have been depressed, suicidal, furious,
outraged, lonely, and have felt a sense of loss . . . The abortion which
was to 'be in my best interest' just has not been. Problems are not
ended by abortion, but only made worse.'
~~~
Learn More
Read Our Special Report on Teens and Abortion
Read Our Special Report on Sexual Assault Pregnancy and Abortion
Share More
Download and share the "Hard Cases: New Facts, New Answers" Fact Sheet
Download and share the Teen Abortion Risks Fact Sheet
Citations
1. "Planned Parenthood Found Negligent in Reporting Molested
Teen's Abortion," Pro-Life Infonet, attributed to Associated
Press; Dec. 26, 2002.
2. Reardon, Makimaa & Sobie, Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and
Children Resulting from Sexual Assault (Springfield, IL: Acorn
Books, 2000) 19-22.
3. PK Coleman, "Resolution of Unwanted Pregnancy During Adolescence
Through Abortion Versus Childbirth: Individual and Family Predictors and
Psychological Consequences," Journal of Youth and Adolescence
(2006).
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