Contact: 323.454.3304, media@liveaction.org
MEMPHIS, May 6, 2009 — The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing whether to begin an investigation of a Memphis Planned Parenthood Clinic. It was recently revealed that one of the clinic employees told an alleged victim of statutory rape to hide the identity of her perpetrator. The videotape of this employee was cited by state legislators in conjunction with a proposed bill to divert taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood. The bill passed a Tennessee House of Representatives Health & Human Resources sub-Committee on Monday.
The video shows Lila Rose, a UCLA student, entering Planned Parenthood’s Memphis Health Center. She tells an employee that she is 14 years old and pregnant by her 31-year-old “boyfriend.” The employee advises her to obtain a judicial bypass to the parental consent requirement for abortion, and to lie about the man’s age so the judge will not find out she is a victim of statutory rape: “Don’t mention it. Just say you have a boyfriend 17 years old–whatever.”
Live Action sent the raw footage from the Memphis undercover investigation to District Attorney Bill Gibbons for review last week. It was also released to the public on LiveAction.org and YouTube. According to the District Attorney Office spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals, “Gen. Gibbons has assigned one of the prosecutors in our Grand Jury section to review the video to determine if the matter warrants any further investigation.”
“Telling a little girl lie to a judge so that a statutory rapist goes undetected is a serious offense. Yet Planned Parenthood representatives have remained indifferent and full of excuses since the video was released,” says Rose. “Planned Parenthood should not receive taxpayer money when it undermines Tennessee’s system of protection for children.”
