Editor's note. Please take advantage of the opportunity to order copies of National Right to Life News' January 22 Commemorative Edition. You will find full details in Part Two.

By Randall K. O'Bannon, NRL Education Director

When an adult male sexually preys upon a young teenage girl in this country, it is not simply an unspeakable tragedy, but a serious crime -- statutory rape. When these young women reveal the rape to educators, counselors or health professionals, it is supposed to be reported to authorities to protect the teen and others like her from further abuse.

But Planned Parenthood doesn't seem to feel the law applies to its "counselors." In the past few weeks, stories and videos have surfaced showing Planned Parenthood employees either attempting to cover up, or failing to report, what appeared to be instances of statutory rape.

First, there is a case in North Carolina, secretly videotaped by Students for Life of America. The entire encounter is on video and can be accessed at their website at www.studentsforlife.org (accessed 12/4/08).

Posing as a 15-year-old, a young college student went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Charlotte in June of 2008. You can hear her saying that she and her boyfriend had unprotected sex the night before and that she wanted to know if she could get the morning after pill from them. When the counselor asks her age and hears that she is 15, the counselor tells her that it can be picked up at a drugstore over the counter by someone over 18.

The young woman tells the counselor that her partner is her mother's live in boyfriend who is in his 30s, and that he can pick up the pills at the drugstore.

When the young woman tries to set up an appointment later to come in and get birth control, the counselor asks the young woman to confirm her age and the age of her boyfriend. She expresses some concern about the ages.

"PP: Um, my concern is the age difference.
"Girl: Oh, no. It's fine. There's nothing. There's nothing bad going on.
"PP: Well, legally though. It's illegal. It's statutory rape.
"Girl: Ok, um, well, I mean, can I just come back and maybe I can talk to you about it then?
"PP: Yea[h], lets. When do you think you can get a ride to come back?"

The counselor then works out an appointment time, discusses the birth control method the young girl might be interested in, the prices, and then takes the girl's first and last name, date of birth, and cell phone number.

Students for Life of America note that despite North Carolina laws that clearly state persons (like the PPFA employees) are supposed to report statutory rape to authorities, there was no record of this or any one like it being reported.

Shortly after news of the North Carolina cover-up broke, news of a similar but even worse story came from Indiana's Planned Parenthood clinic in Bloomington. In this case the video was shot June 24 by UCLA student Lila Rose, president of Live Action Films

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Rose posed as a 13 year old who goes to a Planned Parenthood clinic. "The 'patient' says she doesn't want to explain who the father is because he could get in trouble because he is so much older," the Sun Times reported.

At first, the nurse tells the girl "I don't want to know how old he is, OK." When the girl persists, the nurse tells her that when anyone 13 or younger has intercourse, she is supposed to report to CPS (Child Protective Services), and that "It could be reported as rape... And that's child abuse."

When the girl suggests that maybe she can say that she doesn't know who the father is or that it might be someone at school, the nurse quickly responds, saying "right.... Just, you, know, you've seen him around, you know he's 14, he's in your grade and whatever. So. You know what I mean."

"She then shows the girl a piece of paper, which Rose says indicated she could get an abortion in Illinois without parental consent," the Chicago Sun Times reported. The video can be viewed at www.metacafe.com/channels/LiveActionFilms.org (accessed 12/4/08)

The situation here is even worse than in North Carolina. Not only is there a failure to report what would be a clear case of statutory rape, but here we have an employee actually counseling an ostensible victim to cover-up the abuse and then further attempt to circumvent the intent of the Indiana law by suggesting the girl cross state lines to get an abortion in a state that will not contact her parents.

Though it claimed it could not be certain whether or not the video had been altered, Planned Parenthood of Indiana (the same PP affiliate that announced the sale of "gift certificates" for the holidays) announced that 'the apparent actions of the employee would be in violation of our strict policies and procedures." PPIN President and CEO Betty Cockrum said that the employee seen in the video had been placed on an "immediate unpaid suspension" with possible further disciplinary action if warranted by the results of what appears will be an in house investigation.

Planned Parenthood portrays these as atypical, isolated incidents, but these are hardly the first to be reported.

Nor is it just about young women acting the part of teens who have been statutorily raped. In 2005, the parents of a 14-year-old girl filed suit against Planned Parenthood of Ohio.

They alleged that a PP clinic failed to report their daughter's statutory rape by her 21-year-old boyfriend and failed to notify them of the abortion.

Whether Planned Parenthood doesn't know or doesn't care about the possibility of continued abuse isn't clear. What is clear from these videos that there apparently have been some instances where Planned Parenthood employees were willing to ignore the law.

Send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com

Part Two -- Order copies of National Right to Life News' January 22 Commemorative Edition