Arizona Congressman Calls for Investigation of Planned Parenthood After Alleged Rape Cover-Up
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An Arizona congressman called on state officials to investigate Planned Parenthood after two new tapes surfaced allegedly catching clinics trying to hide statutory rape.
Responding to the videotapes released this week, Republican Rep. Trent Franks lambasted the organization for its "flagrant violation of the law."
"These video clips are the most recent in a series of recorded incidents in which Planned Parenthood clinics have blatantly disregarded the law and failed to protect children by refusing to report potential cases of statutory rape," Franks said in a press release.
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The footage was shot by college students Lila Rose and Jackie Stollar, who said they entered the Phoenix clinics posing as 15-year-old girls and told employees that Stollar needed an abortion after being impregnated by her adult "boyfriend."
The video shows Stollar apparently telling one clinic that the father in question was "a lot older than" her, and informing the other that "he’s 27."
But rather than contact authorities, as is required by Arizona law if an adult-child relationship is revealed, staffers are heard saying "we don't ask any questions" and "everything is confidential."
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Both explain in the clip how the "teen" could skirt parental consent laws to get an abortion.
The clinics are the latest Planned Parenthood centers implicated in the "Mona Lisa Project" — an undercover probe of the abortion-providing organization conducted by student-led non-profit Live Action. Rose, 20, a student at UCLA, is the president of the group.
"It is a travesty that even though Planned Parenthood has been repeatedly shown to conceal the sexual abuse of children, state and federal officials have nevertheless refused to involve themselves in drawing attention to these crimes, seemingly because of their desire to avoid the abortion issue altogether," Franks said.
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He cited the allegations against Planned Parenthood as another reason for his support of the Title X Abortion Provider Act, which would prohibit the use of federal funds for family planning centers that adminster abortions.
Click here to see the video and more on this story from Liveaction.org.