It’s not always easy to spot a coherent rationale behind government policy. That shouldn’t be surprising—a lot of times there isn’t one. Consider how the government handles tobacco.
For decades, the federal government spent money on a program to make tobacco farms more profitable. The tobacco they produced was then turned into cigarettes. What happened when those cigarettes hit store shelves? The government spent even more money encouraging people not to buy them.
This sort of logic isn’t confined to smoking. When it comes to abuse and human trafficking, Uncle Sam takes a similar approach. On one hand, money is spent going after those who perpetrate the violence. On the other, it also goes to an organization that helps them get away with it.
Pimps see women and girls as a source of revenue, so pregnancy can be a problem. Unfortunately, a coerced abortion is often the solution. Captain Jeff Williams of the Dallas Department of Public Safety testified about that last year before Texas’ Joint Interim Committee to Study Human Trafficking. The anti-trafficking group A21 Campaign has put out a video in which former trafficking victim Nicole talks about what the experience is like.
Naturally, most people react with horror and disgust when they hear about human trafficking. The Planned Parenthood clinic staff that Live Action documented in 2011 weren’t most people.
In 2011, Live Action investigators took hidden cameras to Planned Parenthood facilities along the East Coast while posing as pimps. Employees at those locations didn’t seem particularly troubled by their presence.
That the investigators spoke of using underage girls who “can’t speak English” didn’t raise eyebrows either. In fact, Perth Amboy, NJ clinic director Amy Woodruff was willing to set up involuntary abortions for them, explaining, “If they’re 14 and under, just send them right there if they need an abortion, OK?”
Planned Parenthood’s representatives haven’t just shown disregard for trafficking victims in their clinics—they’ve done it on Capitol Hill, too. When Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, the legislation was attacked by Planned Parenthood and its allies. The reason? The victims’ fund it established wouldn’t pay for abortions.
It makes sense that professional abusers would turn to the abortion industry for help. After all, amateurs having been doing it for years. Gary Cross did; the California man took his 13 year-old stepdaughter to Planned Parenthood for a late term abortion after impregnating her. He resumed the abuse when she got home and continued it for months.
Cross wasn’t alone. Timothy Smith got similar help from Planned Parenthood. So did Adam Gault and John Blanks, Jr. In fact, you can find a list here of over fifty sexual predators who used abortion to hide their crimes and keep their victims suffering.
President Obama has said, “Our fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time.” The first step to winning that fight is to stop helping the other side. You can play a part by signing Live Action’s petition asking Congress to hold Planned Parenthood accountable and end its half billion dollar subsidy. You can also demand legislation to help stop coerced abortions. Because the fact is that victims of trafficking and abuse deserve a hand. The perpetrators? Not so much.
