Planned Parenthood claims to be an organization that cares; they claim they will be there for women and children when they need help. But what happens when people actually go to their local Planned Parenthood? What happens when the child who walks through the facility doors is not just a child, but also a victim of sexual abuse? How does Planned Parenthood help these girls?
Former Planned Parenthood manager, Ramona Trevino shares her personal story of how the abortion chain cared more about its image than the trafficking or abuse victims who entered its doors:
But is Ramona’s story an outlier? Hardly.
The Stunning Case of a 13-Year-Old Rape Victim
R.Z. was a 13-year-old girl who visited Planned Parenthood in 2012, looking to get an abortion. She was taken to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado by her stepfather, Timothy David Smith, who began sexually abusing her when she was only six years old. When R.Z. became pregnant, Smith took her to Planned Parenthood to force her to have an abortion.
Planned Parenthood did not notify her mother. They did not ask questions to determine why a man with a different last name was bringing a child in for an abortion. They allowed Smith to fill out the majority of the consent forms for R.Z., and four different Planned Parenthood counselors spoke with R.Z. and Smith. All of them noted R.Z.’s birth date, but none of them asked her about potential sexual abuse.
After the abortionist performed the procedure on R.Z., the clinic broke Colorado state law and did not notify authorities of the suspected abuse. Smith left to get lunch while R.Z. underwent the abortion, and he didn’t even bother coming into the clinic to get her after it was finished. But the Planned Parenthood staffers didn’t care. They released R.Z. back to Smith, and the sexual abuse continued.
R.Z. eventually admitted to her mother Cary that she was being abused, and she was rushed to a hospital. Cary contacted authorities to report the abuse, and requested her medical records from Planned Parenthood. That was when she discovered that her daughter had been forced to have an abortion by her abuser and that Planned Parenthood had done nothing to protect R.Z., but had instead handed her back to the man who had victimized her.
Smith was arrested in 2012 and pled guilty to two counts of felony sex abuse. Cary sued Planned Parenthood for a variety of claims including negligence, extreme and outrageous conduct, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Planned Parenthood settled this case, in a closed settlement, after the judge commented that Planned Parenthood’s conduct was so outrageous that punitive damages would be appropriate
Widespread Corruption in Planned Parenthood
Incredibly, this particular Planned Parenthood affiliate (Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood) is no stranger to alleged criminal activity. Ayanna Byer also sued Planned Parenthood after she was subjected to not only a forced abortion, but a botched one that could have killed her. PPRM was also the subject of one of Live Action’s undercover investigations. In SexEd, a clinic counselor was caught telling a 15-year-old to illegally visit sex shops, watch pornography, and experiment with dangerous sexual practices such as whipping and asphyxiation.
The cover-up of child sexual abuse and similar dangerous practices are not restricted to this one Planned Parenthood affiliate. Covering up sexual abuse is a known, specific problem that happens in Planned Parenthood facilities across the country.
Live Action’s Mona Lisa investigation found seven different Planned Parenthood centers in five different states that ignored mandatory statutory rape reporting laws and that covered up the sexual abuse of children. Counselors also told Live Action investigators, who they believed to be underage minor girls, how to circumvent parental notification laws.
In the video above, Live Action President Lila Rose posed as a 13-year-old girl and went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bloomington, Indiana. She told the counselor she had been impregnated by a 31-year-old man. The counselor admitted to Rose that she was required to report the statutory rape to Child Protective Services, but that she was not going to do so. She also told Rose to lie about her boyfriend’s age, telling her how she could get around parental notification laws by going out of state for the abortion. The employee in this particular case was suspended and later fired.
Planned Parenthood’s Consistent Cover-Up of Sexual Abuse
This situation — Planned Parenthood staffers hiding the sexual abuse of children — happens frequently, and unfortunately, it isn’t just in Live Action undercover investigations. Here are just a few, tragic, real-world examples:
- A Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia was caught covering up multiple instances of child rape.
- 40-year-old Adam Gault abducted teenager Danielle Cramer and kept her prisoner, raping her repeatedly. When she became pregnant, he took her to Planned Parenthood, where they performed the abortion and then gave her back to Gault.
- In San Francisco, an 11-year-old girl was raped by her 17-year-old boyfriend, and Planned Parenthood covered it up.
- A Planned Parenthood facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, was sued twice for covering up sexual abuse of children. The first case involved a teenage girl who was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, and she actually told staffers this — but they did nothing — and she continued to be abused for another 18 months. The second suit was filed after a 14-year-old girl was raped by her 21-year-old boyfriend. The facility did not follow state parental notification laws, and did not report the statutory rape to authorities.
- In Santa Clara County, California, a 13-year-old girl was taken to Planned Parenthood by her stepfather after he impregnated her, and he forced her to have a late-term abortion. The teenager visited the Planned Parenthood center twice, but no one notified law enforcement, and the abuse continued for another seven months.
- A report from Alliance Defending Freedom showed a pattern of sexual abuse cover-ups in Planned Parenthood centers in seven states.
It’s clear that Planned Parenthood does not care about protecting young girls. Planned Parenthood’s priority is abortion, not health care or keeping children safe. Girls like R.Z. go to Planned Parenthood expecting to get compassionate care, and instead they just get victimized again.
It’s time for Planned Parenthood to be held accountable.
