[Information from most recent back]
Ohio Supreme Court Allows Planned Parenthood to Conceal Abortion Records in Sexual Abuse Case
By Kathleen Gilbert
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Parents suing a Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio clinic for failing to report statutory rape may not access other girls' medical records to see if they establish a pattern of neglect, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today.
The lawsuit involves a 14-year-old girl who, unbeknownst to her parents, aborted a child in 2004, conceived after having relations with her 21-year-old soccer coach. Ohio state law requires that parents give consent for a minor's abortion, but the parents say only the coach signed off on the procedure.
Attorneys Charles Miller and Brian Hurley had attempted to procure the medical records of other minor girls who received abortions at the clinic to establish whether the facility had routinely neglected to report statutory rape.
The First District Court of Appeals in 2007 denied that the records should be handed over, even if the patients' identifying information were not included, saying that even so "it is arguable that disclosure would result in a privacy invasion." The court said such information would only be available to the attorneys had they filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of parents against the clinic.
The Supreme Court at first declined to hear the appeal in January, but later reversed itself.
Hurley is also pursuing another case of abuse cover-up on behalf of a now-grown woman who says Planned Parenthood failed to report the routine sexual abuse committed against her by her father. Under Ohio law, suspected sexual abuse must be reported to authorities; however, the anonymous Ohio woman says the abuse was allowed to continue for another 18 months because Planned Parenthood did not act on information she divulged.
An ongoing sting operation by the student group Live Action Films has recently added to the growing pile of evidence that Planned Parenthood facilities in several states across America routinely sidestep laws mandating the reporting of sexual abuse.
The group released a video this week showing a Planned Parenthood counselor telling a girl, who said she was 14 and impregnated by a 31-year-old, that the clinic "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" rather than report sexual abuse to state authorities.
Woman Sues Planned Parenthood for Covering up Incest - Suffered Years of Abuse
By Kathleen Gilbert
WARREN CO., Ohio, February 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A woman who suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father filed a lawsuit today suing Planned Parenthood and five of its employees for refusing to report signs of abuse when she obtained an abortion, with the result that the abuse continued for another 1 1/2 years.
Prosecuting Attorney Brian Hurley told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that the Planned Parenthood employees "played ostrich" when the girl told them she was being raped.
"We believe that they ignored Denise's cry for help ... and as a result she was sexually abused three times a week for a year and a half because they didn't meet their duties to report," said Hurley.
Ohio law requires that Planned Parenthood employees report obvious signs of abuse.
Planned Parenthood has come under fire recently for a trend of failing to report sexual abuse and rape. In a project knows as the "Mona Lisa Project" UCLA student Lila Rose and her friend Jackie Stollar went undercover and videotaped PP employees conscientiously ignoring statutory rape. So far three different PP facilities have been caught covering up rape, which they were required by law to report to the authorities.
Denise, who is now 21, suffered sexual abuse by her father between the ages of 13 and 17. In 2004, when she was 16, Hurley says Denise's father took her to the Mount Auburn facility of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio to seek an abortion after he had impregnated her.
When questioned by Planned Parenthood, the girl allegedly said "that she had been forced to do things that she did not want to do."
The abuse ended when Denise's father was arrested eighteen months after the Planned Parenthood visit, thanks to the intervention of the girl's basketball coach. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006.
Hurley is convinced that Planned Parenthood will be brought to justice for its negligence.
"She tried to put an end to this abuse by informing a Planned Parenthood employee that she had been forced to have sex and to do things she did not want to do. Tragically for her, Planned Parenthood's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy was in full force," Hurley told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Suit Against Planned Parenthood in Court Today
October 7, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court holds hearings today in a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio in Cincinnati.
This is one of two cases against this Planned Parenthood affiliate, intended to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for its pattern and practice of failing to report suspicions of statutory rape and sexual abuse cases when minors are brought for abortions.
The victim is a minor impregnated when she was 14 by her 21 year old soccer coach, then taken to Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati where she received an abortion without her parents' notification or consent.
Records are needed to determine whether Planned Parenthood has a pattern of cover up regarding abortions performed on minors in cases of statutory rape and incest.
Planned Parenthood has denied access to records stating patient privacy reasons.
However, no request for records seeks patient ID information--only information on the circumstances of abortions given to minors.
Ohio Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Will Hear Case on Teen's Secret Abortion
by Steven Ertelt, March 26, 2008
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com)--The Ohio Supreme Court has reversed itself and will hold a hearing on a case involving a secret abortion on a 14-year-old girl who was a victim of rape. A Cincinnati couple is upset their daughter had an abortion at a local Planned Parenthood facility without their knowledge or consent as required by state law.
The girl's parents filed a lawsuit against the abortion facility for violating the state's parental notification law by not telling them of her abortion, which may have been coerced.
The girl in the case provided an incorrect phone number to Planned Parenthood officials for notification. Instead of giving the abortion center her parents' phone, she gave the number for her 21-year-old boyfriend.
Planned Parenthood appealed a judge's decision requiring it to turn over to the family's attorney the abortion records of all women under the age of 18 to determine if there have been other cases and to show how the abortion business handles them.
In August, the 1st District Court of Appeals determined that Planned Parenthood doesn't have to give the couple's attorney record of abortions done on other teenagers.
In January, the Ohio Supreme Court decided on a 4-3 vote not to hear the appeal. On Wednesday, it reversed itself and agreed to review the case.
"I am really ecstatic the Ohio Supreme Court will look at what we think are extremely important issues related to the issue of child abuse," Brian Hurley, the attorney representing the girl's family, told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The parents filed a lawsuit that began the series of court actions and alleged Planned Parenthood violated state law, filed to get proper informed consent, and failed to report a suspected case of child abuse to authorities.
In the appeals court ruling, the judges ruled unanimously that the records can remain confidential because the attorney did not file a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of parents saying Planned Parenthood is doing secret abortions.
It said the case is a civil one and not a criminal lawsuit and claimed there is no other evidence pointing to Planned Parenthood routinely doing abortions without following state law and telling the parents of a teen girl.
The court also mentioned privacy issues and Judge Mark Painter wrote, "Even with the records (blacked out), it is arguable that disclosure would result in a privacy invasion."
However, Hurley is only seeking statistical information, not the names or contact information of anyone having an abortion at the Planned Parenthood center.
Hurley previously spoke about the case and Planned Parenthood's handling of the teen's abortion, saying "Apparently they made no effort to confirm to whom they were speaking when they placed their call to notify the parents. They did the minimum they could under the existing law."
Hurley is also representing a teenager in a second case against Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region.
In that case, the teen accuses the abortion business of covering up her sexual victimization by her father.
Under Ohio law, doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals are required to report alleged sexual abuse to authorities and the teen says that didn't happen in her abortion case.
The unnamed girl filed the lawsuit in Warren County Common Pleas Court in May 2007 saying she told Planned Parenthood staff about the incest.
Abortion business officials told the Associated Press at the time the facility would have contacted authorities after learning of any possible sexual abuse.
"We would call and report as required by law," Becki Brenner, Planned Parenthood's Southwest Region president and chief executive officer, said.
Under the lawsuit, the teenager says Planned Parenthood's failure to report the incest to police resulted in another 18 months of sexual abuse at the hands of her father.
The girl eventually told someone else about the problems, leading to her father John Blanks Jr.'s prosecution and a five year prison sentence.
The lawsuit claims Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio uses a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to sexual abuse.
Hurley said he's obtained a handwritten note from Planned Parenthood that mentions the phrase, "Don't ask/don't tell" and said the note was from a Planned Parenthood trainer, Julia Piercey.
"So, to me, their position is laughable," Hurley told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It came from their own files, from their own trainer."
Ohio Supreme Court Votes 4-3 Against Parents Who Sought Clinic Records in Wrongful Abortion Lawsuit
By a one-vote margin, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that parents of a teen-age girl involved in a wrongful abortion lawsuit are not entitled to access a clinic's records involving other minors.
Justices split 4-3 in deciding not to accept the appeal of "John and June Roe" from a lower court opinion in their lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio.
The couple was trying to appeal a decision last year from the 1st District Court of Appeals which held that since their lawsuit is neither a class action nor a criminal case, they do not need to examine ten years' worth of redacted medical records of other minor patients.
The unidentified parents alleged that Planned Parenthood had performed an unlawful abortion on their then 13-year-old daughter because it had not notified them or secured their consent; had not obtained the patient's informed consent; and had breached its duty to report suspected child abuse.
When the lawsuit was initially filed in Hamilton County common pleas court, the couple sought access to information about other abortions performed on minors, including the general medical history of the patients.
The trial judge ruled they should have access to the records in an identity-concealing format after concluding that the Roes' had a "tremendous" interest in the information.
A 1st District appellate panel disagreed, saying the records of others were not necessary for the parents to establish whether Planned Parenthood had violated Ohio law in its treatment of their daughter.
Voting not to review the case - and thus denying access to the records sought - were Justices Paul Pfeifer, Evelyn Stratton, Maureen O'Connor, and Judith Lanzinger.
Dissenting - voting to hear the appeal - were Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justices Terrence O'Donnell and Robert Cupp.
Attorney Brian Hurley of Cincinnati, representing the parents, had urged justices to take up the case.
"The appellate court held that (the parents) are not entitled to discover the evidence necessary to prove their claims because they failed to offer evidence to support their claims!" Mr. Hurley said.
Attorney Daniel Buckley of Cincinnati argued on behalf of Planned Parenthood that the Roes had mischaracterized the 1st District holding and tried to manufacture a constitutional issue.
"The court never held that the Roes were required to introduce evidence of their claims before they could obtain discovery. The Court never determined that the records were constitutionally protected from disclosure," Mr. Buckley said. "And there is no split of authority among Ohio courts awaiting resolution."
Court Does Not Hold Planned Parenthood Accountable
August 28, 2007--The Ohio First District Court of Appeals ruled Friday, August 24, 2007 against holding Planned Parenthood accountable for its pattern and practice of failing to report statutory rape and sexual abuse cases.
The victim is a minor impregnated when she was 14 by her 21 year old soccer coach, then taken to Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati where she received an abortion without her parents' notification or consent. She is appealing to the Ohio Supreme court.
The Court of Appeals judges who ruled against this victim of sexual abuse were Mark Painter, Lee Hillebrand, and Penelope Cunningham.
This decision reverses former Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker's ruling in June 2006 to release patient records. Records are needed to determine whether Planned Parenthood has a pattern of cover up regarding abortions performed on minors in cases of statutory rape and incest.
Planned Parenthood has denied access to records stating patient privacy reasons. However, no request for records seeks patient ID information--only information on the circumstances of abortions given to minors.
There are increasing reports nationwide of Planned Parenthood's pattern and practice of failing to report statutory rape and sexual abuse cases:
- In 2002, Life Dynamics did a three-year study of over 800 abortion centers in the U.S. A woman posing as a minor impregnated by an adult called Planned Parenthood centers, gave them this information, and in all cases was assisted in some way to be able to obtain an abortion. (www.plannedparenthoodexposed.com)
- In April of this year law, enforcement and Child Protection Services (CPS) in Kalamazoo, Michigan declined to investigate at least ten cases of possible child-rape unreported by a local Planned Parenthood. Michigan has similar reporting requirements as Ohio.
- In May, a counselor at the UCLA student health center advised a pregnant student to have an abortion. The woman in the case, a pro-life student posing as a pregnant teenager, says Planned Parenthood advised her to disguise statutory rape. California also has similar reporting requirements as Ohio.
- In August, a kidnapping and sexual abuse case occurred in Connecticut, where a 15-year-old teen was impregnated by a 41-year old man then taken to Planned Parenthood for an abortion. Planned Parenthood did not report the possibility of sexual abuse, yet according to police reports, DNA taken from the dead unborn child matches the man's. Connecticut has similar reporting requirements as Ohio.
Cincinnati Planned Parenthood Covers Up Incest Case
May 10, 2007--The second of two cases against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio on Auburn Ave. in Cincinnati was filed yesterday. The first involved Planned Parenthood's abortion of a minor sexually abused by her soccer coach without the child's parents' notification or consent (see earlier article below).
This second case involves the abortion of a teen sexually abused by her father. She informed Planned Parenthood of the incest but they did not report as required by state law. The father continued his abuse for another year and a half.
This case reports that Planned Parenthood maintains a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding suspected or known sexual abuse of minors.
The case is Case No. 07CU68441, filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Civil Division, Warren County, OH.
Cincinnati Planned Parenthood Gives Minor Abortion Without Parental Notice or Consent
A lawsuit is pending here in Hamilton County against Planned Parenthood. The lawsuit involves claims by a local family that Planned Parenthood performed an abortion on a 14 year old girl without providing notice to, or obtaining the consent of, either of her parents.
This case is significant in terms of forcing Planned Parenthood to meet its obligations under Ohio law when performing abortions, and also for the vindication of the pro-family, pro-women public policies that we have worked so hard to put in place through legislation.
This lawsuit implicates at least three of those policies. First, it involves the rights of parents to know about abortions performed on their young children. Second, it involves the rights of women to give informed consent before having an abortion so that they truly know the implications of the decision before making it. Third, it involves the duty of the abortion industry to report suspected child and sexual abuse to the proper law enforcement authorities when there is reason to suspect that abuse has occurred.
In the case now pending here in Hamilton County, Planned Parenthood performed an abortion on a 14 year old girl who had been brought there under pressure by the 21 year old man who had been abusing her. Not only did Planned Parenthood fail to question or report a man who presented with a different last name and paid for the abortion with his credit card, Planned Parenthood even administered a birth control shot to the young girl, also paid for by the 21-year old male, and gave the girl a bag of condoms so that the man could continue having sex with her after the abortion.
To complete the outrage, after the family sued Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood responded by suing the little girl. Planned Parenthood claims that the little girl committed fraud and tricked them when she gave Planned Parenthood the wrong phone number for her parents.
