Contact: media@liveaction.org, (323) 454-3304
MEMPHIS, April 20–A counselor at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Memphis, TN was caught on hidden camera coaching a 14-year-old girl to lie to a judge so he would not find out about her 31-year-old boyfriend and the girl could obtain a waiver for an abortion without her parents’ knowledge. This is the sixth Planned Parenthood clinic implicated in a developing multi-state child abuse scandal involving the deliberate suppression of evidence of statutory rape.
Lila Rose, 20-year-old UCLA student and president of the nonprofit Live Action, entered Planned Parenthood’s Memphis Health Center undercover and told a counselor that she was 14 years old, pregnant by her 31-year-old “boyfriend”, and needed a secret abortion so her parents would not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man. Tennessee Code 37-1-605 requires health professionals to report suspected cases of sexual abuse of minors to law enforcement immediately.
The Planned Parenthood counselor tells Rose on camera, “Look, if we keep this conversation I’m gonna have to talk to my manager and yeah, [your boyfriend]’s gonna get in trouble,” but promises, “I’m not gonna tell anybody, ok?” She adds, “And please don’t say that I told you this.” When Rose tells the counselor she thinks her boyfriend will get in trouble if her parents find out, the counselor advises Rose to lie about the man’s age when speaking to a judge in order to obtain a bypass of Tennessee’s parental consent law for abortion: “Don’t mention it. Just say you have a boyfriend 17 years old…whatever.”
“The Planned Parenthood counselor hears about the abuse, says she should report it, decides to remain silent, then tells me to lie to the judge about 31-year-old man.” Rose notes of the video.
The new video marks the fifth in Live Action’s “Mona Lisa Project,” a nationwide undercover investigation that documents Planned Parenthood’s repeated noncompliance with state mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse of minors. Tennessee is the third state to be implicated in the controversy, along with Arizona and Indiana.
“This is the sixth clinic we have recorded that manipulates the law and covers up sexual abuse. Planned Parenthood’s abortion-first mentality makes it operate as an advocate for terrible crimes against children,” Rose states. “What more do authorities need to see before holding this organization accountable for its institutionalized indifference to statutory rape and sexual abuse of children?”
