Contact: 323.454.3304, media@liveaction.org
BIRMINGHAM, Feb. 11–The Alabama Department of Health has put a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Birmingham on probation for violating multiple state laws, including performing illegal abortions on minors.
A report by state health officials indicates that Planned Parenthood staff at the Birmingham abortion clinic, “failed to obtain parental consent for 9 of 9 minor patients in a manner that complies with state legal requirements.” The report also states that, “neither the Registered Nurse, the Medical Doctor, nor any other Center staff reported the suspected abuse or neglect [of a 13 year-old child] to the authorities as required by law.”
The health department began its investigation after an undercover video was released by Live Action, a youth-led pro-life organization. The video shows an actress posing as a 14-year-old girl who is seeking an abortion. Workers at the Birmingham clinic tell the alleged 14-year-old that she can skirt parental consent laws by getting someone “with the same last name” to sign off on the abortion in place of her parents. When the clinic workers hear that the girl’s “boyfriend” is 31, they refer her to the clinic director, Dr. Desiree Bates, telling her that Bates “does sometimes bend the rules a little bit.”
The video was the sixth in Live Action’s “Mona Lisa Project,” a multi-state undercover audit of Planned Parenthood’s compliance with state laws regarding minor abortion and mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.
Live Action president and UCLA student Lila Rose, who portrayed the 14-year-old in the video, says law enforcement in other states should follow the lead of the officials in Alabama: “The Health Department report documents the same malpractice that we have found in state after state. Sexually abused minors are being neglected by Planned Parenthood, which puts its own ‘abortion-first mentality’ before child protection. These are outrageous violations of state law and the Alabama Health Department should revoke the Birmingham Planned Parenthood clinic license. Alabama legislators must also ensure that no tax money is funding Planned Parenthood’s illicit activity.”
Live Action’s current national undercover project, “The Rosa Acuna Project,” documents medical misinformation and manipulative counseling at Planned Parenthood abortion centers.
> Watch the Alabama undercover video
> Learn more about our new “Rosa Acuna” project
> Download the Alabama Department of Public Health Statement of Deficiencies at Planned Parenthood of Alabama, Inc.
