Planned Parenthood removes revealing letter from website

[Soldier4Christ]

Posted: December 16, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

After drawing attention from pro-life groups, Planned Parenthood's San Francisco affiliate removed from its website a purported letter from a girl thanking the abortion provider for helping conceal from her parents a rape that occurred when she was 11.

The American Life League's STOPP International is calling on California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate, asking whether Planned Parenthood is trying to hide evidence of a crime.

"Planned Parenthood acts as if it is exempt from the law," said STOPP International's executive director, Jim Sedlak. "The organization knows it is mandated to report suspected cases of sexual abuse involving minors, yet it seemingly fails to do so."

The letter appeared in the "Shared Stories" section of the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate website.

Neither the letter itself nor Planned Parenthood Golden Gate indicated whether the organization alerted authorities to the reported sexual abuse of an 11-year-old child, STOPP International said.

The letter indicates the girl now is 17.

Sedlak called Planned Parenthood a "dangerous organization," saying "we must ensure that it is held accountable for its actions."

Last month, Californians voted down a measure requiring parents to be notified before a minor has an abortion.

A backer of the proposition, Yes on 73, argued for its passage by pointing to a well-documented survey by Texas-based Life Dynamics revealing virtually all Planned Parenthood affiliates fail to report clear cases of statutory rape to authorities.

The Yes on 73 website site provides some of the audio tapes of a Life Dynamics researcher who telephoned 800 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation facilities nationwide portraying a 13-year-old girl who had been made pregnant by a 22-year-old boyfriend.

The caller told the clinics she wanted an abortion "because she and her boyfriend did not want her parents to find out about the sexual relationship," a summary of the report stated.

Among the findings was that many clinic workers acknowledged the girl's situation was illegal and that they were required by law to report it, but an "overwhelming majority readily agreed" to keep secret the illegal sexual contact.

Life Dynamics said that in 91 percent of its calls, the person reached at the center agreed to conceal the statutory rape.

Girls under age 14 are presumed to be victims of rape, but Planned Parenthood argues compliance with the underage reporting law would breach the doctor-patient confidentiality agreement.

Nevertheless, Life Dynamic President Mark Crutcher insists Planned Parenthood understands the law, noting his group has a tape recording of the abortion provider's top two national attorneys admitting that child-abuse reporting laws override confidentiality requirements in every state.

The Life Dynamics probe has led to a number of legal investigations across the nation. In addition to the Planned Parenthood investigation, the pro-life group brought about the 1999 congressional hearings on the sale of aborted baby parts.