Date: 12/16/2008 10:46 PM
BC-Planned Parenthood-Video/400
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Planned Parenthood has suspended a counselor after an anti-abortion group released its second video in two weeks showing what it says is a clinic staffer ignoring Indiana law to report sexual abuse of minors.
Planned Parenthood said in a statement Tuesday that its first priority was to patients, but it was committed to following all state laws. It said it was investigating the matter and had not yet established whether the second video by Live Action had accurate content.
Planned Parenthood said the aide seen in the first Live Action video behaved unacceptably and was fired. It also said that staff members had been retrained on reporting abuse.
The college student who secretly shot both videos while posing as a 13-year-old clinic patient said they were edited mainly for time, such as removing her stay in the waiting room.
“Nothing was edited in a way that would alter the obvious context of the sexual abuse cover-up,” said Lila Rose, a 20-year-old UCLA junior and Live Action member.
Rose shot both videos on June 24 at clinics in Indianapolis and Bloomington. She said Live Action has visited clinics in other states, but wouldn’t say which ones.
Rose said the videos were released separately to increase news coverage.
“Each time we release a single clinic in a state we want it to get the national attention and scrutiny each cover-up deserves,” Rose told The Associated Press.
The video released Tuesday shows a counselor at an Indianapolis clinic and Rose, posing as a 13-year-old who says the man who impregnated her was 31.
“I don’t care how old he is,” said the counselor, who identifies herself in the video only as Janet. Planned Parenthood has previously declined to identify employees accused of wrongdoing.
Indiana law requires anyone learning of sexual acts between an adult and a child under 14 to report them to police or child welfare authorities.
Both videos also appear to show Planned Parenthood staff advising the patient that other states allow minors to get abortions without parental consent, which Indiana requires.
Planned Parenthood operates 35 health clinics in Indiana, including three that offer abortions.
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On the Net:
Live Action: www.liveactionfilms.org
Planned Parenthood of Indiana: www.ppin.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Special Comment:
Admittedly, if this had been an actual case of a 13 year old, not a 20 year old posing as a 13 year old, it would be a bit more of a moral dilemma. But to me, the below Indiana law smacks of Sarah Palin fascism run amuck. Planned Parenthood is one of the few remaining voices of sanity in our world. Its open door policy has helped more teenagers than all other American institutions combined. To bring in the virginity police to such a place, can only spell potential doom.
This is a law that seems to dictate civil disobedience. And if we are going to be all about law and order, why is it that the poser isn’t prosecuted for the fraud she perpetrated in receiving the free medical services of this truly worthy organization? It is a shame that the law wasn’t followed in this one instance. Then it would have been the poser, making false statements to the police, to perpetrate this sham.