Planned Parenthood allows alleged molester to approve victim's abortion

I first saw this on LifeNews.com, but the full story can be found on the Cincinatti Enquirer.

It's easier to get an abortion than an aspirin

By Peter Bronson
Enquirer staff writer


Public schools require permits, doctor's permission and written consent from parents to give a Tylenol to a student. It's much easier for an eighth-grader to get an abortion.

All it took last year for a 14-year-old "Jane Roe" was a cell phone number. A staffer at a local Planned Parenthood clinic called the number and got permission - from a 21-year-old man who was molesting the girl and coerced her into an abortion.

The man, now in prison, pretended to be her father on the phone, then posed as her brother at the clinic. He paid with his credit card, and had the girl injected with Depo-Provera birth control, so he could resume having sex with her three days later.

"Jane Roe presented her school identification card, which showed that she was a junior high school student," a lawsuit by the girl's parents says. "(He) presented his Ohio driver's license, which showed that he was 21 years of age and his last name was different than Jane Roe's. (Planned Parenthood) did not question (either) about the differences in their ages or their different last names."

And that was under Ohio's parent notification law. State law also requires notice to law enforcement, because a girl 13 or under who seeks an abortion is automatically a victim of rape.

"I believe they took the ostrich approach," said Brian Hurley, the lawyer for Jane Roe's family. "I think they are doing everything possible to discourage parental consent."

Staff 'actively misled'

Planned Parenthood lawyer Alphonse Gerhardstein says the clinic was deceived. "It's pretty clear that even with trained staff interviewing her, they were actively misled about the age of the partner and the relationship of the partner."

Planned Parenthood has countersued Jane Roe for fraud.

"I think there's tremendous irony," Hurley said. "Here's an organization that portrays itself as a protector of young girls. They know that teenage girls feel tremendous pressure to hide a pregnancy from parents. I think it's unconscionable."

He also claims the failure to notify parents and police is part of a "pattern of practices." That could escalate his local lawsuit into a national battle. Planned Parenthood is already fighting attorneys general in Kansas and Indiana to block access to records of abortions on underage girls. Prosecutors say abortion clinics failed to report child sexual abuse.

Hurley is also seeking Planned Parenthood's records of abortions for girls age 13 and under. "In every single instance, they were obliged to turn that over to police, but the prosecutor's office has never been contacted about suspected abuse."

Gerhardstein says Planned Parenthood takes notification seriously. "They have a program to discourage relationships with older men."

Agreed: outrageous

Hurley says Jane Doe never met with a doctor and was not informed about the surgery or its risks. Planned Parenthood insists they complied with the law. In court records, Hurley says Planned Parenthood was reckless and outrageous. Gerhardstein says Hurley's claims are scandalous and outrageous.

Whatever happens, Cincinnati's Jane Roe should have her name on the "new" 1998 Ohio parent-notification law that is still stuck in court. It requires women to meet face-to-face with a doctor, and minors must get written consent from a parent for an abortion.

Seven years later, the courts still can't agree that surgery to kill an unborn child should require the same parental consent needed for a Tylenol at school.

That's outrageous.