Contact: media@liveaction.org, (323) 454-3304
MILWAUKEE, Feb. 25–After an undercover video released Tuesday showed staff at their Milwaukee abortion clinic agreeing to cover up the sexual abuse of a purportedly 14-year-old girl by her 31-year-old “boyfriend,” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says they “were unable to make any report” of the suspected abuse because the girl would not give the clinic any identifying information. Live Action, the group responsible for the video, has released extended footage proving Planned Parenthood’s claim false.
In the extended footage, a Planned Parenthood counselor, “Sonia,” after coaching the purported 14-year-old to obtain a judicial bypass waiver for her abortion so her parents will not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man, asks the girl, “What is your name? So I can call them and tell them your’e coming.” Lila Rose, the president of Live Action who is posing as the 14-year-old, says her name is “Janelle Marion”, spelling out the last name for her, and tells the counselor she was born on July 27.
On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin CEO Teri Huyck claimed, “In this particular circumstance, we did not have the name of the young woman. She did not give it to us. She did not provide any ID. So we were unable to make any report.”
On Wednesday, Huyck again said there was nothing Planned Parenthood could do: “Assuming this patient gave us her name, we would report it,” she said. “The so-called patient in this case did not provide identifying information. In fact, she refused.” Huyck said, “It would’ve been difficult if not impossible to make any kind of report.”
Rose, a 21-year-old student at UCLA, says the video shows Huyck’s statement is false: “Planned Parenthood had the little girl’s name and birthdate–more than enough information to make a report. As they have done consistently in the past, Planned Parenthood chose not to report the abuse, and now they are lying to cover up that fact.”
Rose says Planned Parenthood’s negligence is putting girls at risk and law enforcement should intervene. “How many other rapes has this single clinic covered up because it was too ‘difficult’ to make a phone call to the police? The Milwaukee District Attorney and the state Attorney General’s office needs to investigate Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and enforce the laws meant to protect young girls.”
A Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham is now on probation after a state investigation, prompted by a Live Action video, found 9 legal violations.
Watch the extended footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6sK7iU2YsU
