Undercover Student Videos Help De-fund Planned Parenthood in Orange County, CA; Save Taxpayers $292,000

March 16th, 2009 | Contact: 323.454.3304, media@liveaction.org

LOS ANGELES, CA – Undercover videos produced by Live Action Films were used to help strip Planned Parenthood of the $292,000 in taxpayer funds it received from Orange County, CA. The videos, part of the ongoing Mona Lisa Project, clearly show Planned Parenthood employees ignoring the sexual abuse of minors, which mandatory reporting laws require clinicians to report.

Mark Bucher, a local resident and board member of the Family Action PAC, saw the videos and decided to find out if Orange County gave taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood. Bucher proceeded to uncover an intricate money trail unknown even to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and found that Planned Parenthood received funds through the Orange County Health Care Agency but was never identified as the recipient.

“ The distribution of public funds to Planned Parenthood through the Orange County Health Care Agency appeared to be a deliberate cover-up since it was nearly impossible to detect where the money was going from the County to several different health clinics,” said Bucher. “After watching the undercover videos from Live Action, it became clear to me that Planned Parenthood has a lot to hide.”

Bucher sent one of the undercover videos to every Orange County Supervisor, and encouraged them to cut Planned Parenthood’s Orange County subsidies. This week, the Orange Country Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to end taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood.

“ Regardless of one’s position on abortion, Planned Parenthood should not receive public funding because of their willingness to deliberately cover up sexual molestation and abuse. This ‘non-profit’ had a $115 million surplus last year, and certainly doesn’t need a bailout from our community,” continued Bucher.

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, is the UCLA student who went undercover in the videos to expose Planned Parenthood. She believes Mark Bucher has demonstrated a successful community model to be used across the country to end government subsidies to Planned Parenthood clinics.

“ The undercover footage from the Mona Lisa Project continues to reveal a disturbing pattern in which Planned Parenthood repeatedly covers up the sexual abuse of minors,” said Rose. “Planned Parenthood needs to be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for harming young girls. It is my hope that others like Mark will investigate Parenthood in their local communities, and put a stop to the public funding.”

“ The valuable evidence from Live Action’s investigations was crucial to de- funding Planned Parenthood in Orange County,” concluded Bucher. “I’m grateful for the courage shown by Lila Rose and her group to bring to light the crimes committed inside Planned Parenthood’s clinics.” To view the undercover footage from the Mona Lisa Project, click here.