Does Planned Parenthood Enable Predators?

Planned Parenthood promotes itself on the pedestal of “a leading advocate for survivors of sexual assault” and emphasizes its commitment to “fight to end sexual assault.” According to their official website, it claims that no one should tolerate sexual abuse and even recommends victims turn to Planned Parenthood for medical attention. 

However, court cases, investigations, citations, and former employee testimonies involving Planned Parenthood spark troubling questions. 

Does Planned Parenthood enable and dismiss sexual assault and sex trafficking? Do they ignore the laws in place meant to protect survivors and ensure it doesn’t occur? Do they benefit from the trauma of the very women they claim to love? 

George Savanah had repeatedly raped his daughter and impregnated her at ages 14, 16, and 17. Each time, he took her to Planned Parenthood where she was forced to have her child aborted. Planned Parenthood never reported any of the suspicious incidents to authorities or intervened to stop the perpetual abuse. Savannah’s daughter testified that she was raped for the first time at 14 and the abuse continued for seven years. The jury convicted Savannah of two counts of third-degree rape of a child and two counts of incest.

In 2013, Tyler Kost impregnated a 15-year-old, who sought an abortion at an Arizona Planned Parenthood facility. According to news reports, the Planned Parenthood counselor told the victim that, “they did not want the hassle of having to report the assault to law enforcement as they were a mandatory reporter.” The counselor then intentionally miscoded the incident as “consensual sex” to avoid reporting it to authorities. A Fox News article reports: Tyler Kost, of San Tan Valley, Ariz., has been charged with sexually assaulting 11 girls from the ages of 12 to 17 between October 2009 and April 2014, although authorities believe he has assaulted at least 18 students from Poston Butte High School.”

Denise Fairbanks had been sexually abused by her father since the age of 13. When she became pregnant at age 16, he forced her to have an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility. Denise saw a chance to escape the horrific abuse she was enduring and informed the staff that she was being raped. Instead of intervening to end the abuse, they disregarded her pleas and refused to comply with Ohio’s mandatory reporting law. After the abortion, Denise was sent straight back into the arms of her abuser for another year and a half until her basketball coach discovered and reported the abuse. 

According to a 2014 lawsuit filed against Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and several of the staff members, a 13-year-old (R.Z.) was taken to have an abortion by her rapist, and it does not appear a report was made. R.Z. had been sexually abused by her stepfather, Timothy David Smith, and discovered she was pregnant. Smith pressured her to make an appointment for an abortion, to which she scheduled for May 3, 2012. Smith transported and accompanied her to the appointment. Planned Parenthood required certain forms to be completed for the abortion procedure. Though the victim wrote her date of birth and signed some of the forms, the majority were signed by Smith and R.Z. did not read them. Smith indicated on the forms that he was R.Z’s father, however, multiple staff members claimed to have heard the victim calling him “Tim” not '“Dad.” The lawsuit continues to explain that none of the staff questioned her about potential sexual abuse or verified their relationship. They also failed to contact R.Z.’s mother or authorities to report suspicion of child sexual abuse as is required by Colorado law. The stepfather has since been convicted and incarcerated for his crimes.

A report from Alliance Defending Freedom reported: One Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood employee admitted that “being 13 and pregnant alone is not a red flag” for the organization. 

In 2018, Sage Lanza was convicted and sentenced to prison for having a three-way sexual encounter with a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. The 14-year-old was impregnated by Lanza, to which he forced her to have an abortion against her will. Planned Parenthood failed to report to authorities of potential abuse. The victim notified law enforcement six months after the abortion.

Planned Parenthood performed an abortion on a 13-year-old at the request of her 23-year-old foster brother, who impregnated her. Planned Parenthood failed to notify authorities and never informed the victim’s foster parents that they were going to perform an abortion. After the abortion, Shawn Michael Stevens took her home and continued the abuse. He impregnated her a second time and returned to the same Planned Parenthood facility, to which the abuse was finally reported.

The Associated Press reported that the court found Planned Parenthood negligent for failing to report the first incident to child protective services. Furthermore, they noted that Planned Parenthood’s reasoning for not reporting the first abortion was because, “it does not follow that the negligence caused damages,” and “no reporting would have been required if she had been eight months older.”

Planned Parenthood was also cited by several state inspectors for failing to report suspected child abuse. In 2014, the Alabama Department of Public Health determined the facility failed to report suspected abuse or neglect of a minor. They reported that: “A reasonable person would suspect abuse or neglect of this 13-year-old child” who had two abortions in four months.”

In 2013, Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors conducted a survey of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood. Some girls it saw admitted to being sexually active since the ages of 11 and 12. They discovered that, in at least six instances, Planned Parenthood did not explore the possibility of sexual abuse and staff did not report the cases to authorities, as is required by law.

In 2009, the Alabama Department of Public Health surveyed a Planned Parenthood facility in Birmingham, discovering that they failed to report potential sexual abuse of a 13-year-old who had two abortions within four months.

In 2011, Live Action investigators went undercover into seven Planned Parenthood facilities, posing as sex traffickers. They exposed Planned Parenthood for coaching the traffickers on how to cover up the abuse. Following the investigation, Planned Parenthood pledged that it would retrain employees on how to identify and report suspected sexual abuse. However, a former Planned Parenthood manager who attended the training, Romona Treviño, revealed that they were instead coached on how to avoid being caught in future hidden camera investigations. 

They also publicly pledged to issue “termination of employment” to any staff member who fails to report sexual abuse. In a follow-up investigation by Live Action, no documented instances of employees being terminated for failing to report sexual abuse were found.

Instead of working to protect the women they insist to love, they utilized the training opportunity to cover their tracks. Their reputation for failing to report sexual abuse creates a safe haven for predators. If they know Planned Parenthood will cover their tracks, why would they not continue the abuse? This leaves the abortion industry and predators to feed off of each other, knowing they can both profit from the trauma.

Women who have been abused and violated deserve to be protected, not victimized over and over again by the abortion industry. The very laws that are meant to protect and prevent predators from taking advantage of women, Planned Parenthood is dismissing for their own gain. 

“The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking,” published by Loyola University Chicago’s Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy in 2014, notes how pimps often force their victims to get abortions so they can quickly return them to the streets. The report shows that survivors had “significant contact with clinical treatment facilities, most commonly Planned Parenthood.” It also reports that Planned Parenthood was one of the most-visited facilities for trafficking victims, second in line to emergency rooms.

A woman in the report claimed the reason she was taken to Planned Parenthood was, “because they didn’t ask any questions.”

How many more women were subject to abuse, who could have been spared from the arms of their abusers? How many more women were ignored, disregarded, and are still being abused today because Planned Parenthood chose to turn a blind eye to their pain? 

Planned Parenthood has repeatedly stated that when women speak out about their abuse, we should listen to them and believe them, yet when their own cases of dismissal are presented before them, they call the victims liars. They act out just like the abusers. Maybe it’s time we take the advice Planned Parenthood vocalizes and listen to the cries of women who they have intentionally allowed to be re-exploited.

Former Planned Parenthood employees spoke out, exposing the culture of cover-up they witnessed. 

“We were all required to be mandatory reporters, but, if we saw a case – questionable abuse or even for sure, I mean, this kid is being abused – we really were discouraged from calling it in, just because they didn’t want to have the trouble – the angry parent, the angry boyfriend.” -Sue Thayer, former Planned Parenthood manager, Storm Lake, Iowa

“(Planned Parenthood workers) adopted George Bush’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ (policy)... If we don’t ask how old her partner is, we don’t have to tell. And so Planned Parenthood actually allows victims of human trafficking to continue to be victims of human trafficking. And they’re okay with that. I went back to my office and I told my supervisor, listen, I’m trying to teach them about key concepts on Title X; they’re admitting that they’re not going to report cases on statutory rape.” -Monica Cline, former health educator who worked with Planned Parenthood in Texas and New Mexico

“So many things would happen in that counseling room that really bothered me. There’d be girls coming in with their abusers. Against all protocol, the abuser would be let into the counseling room – that was where they were supposed to be separated from whom they were with, and men were never allowed back there. But with these young girls, they’d be allowed back there. Even if they knew -- even if I went to the manager and I said, ‘Look, there’s something going on here’ -- she would say, ‘She’s better off with the abortion. We can’t do anything about what’s going on at home, but at least we can give her the abortion.” -Former Planned Parenthood employee, Catherine Adair

“I raised my hand and I said, ‘I’m confused, when are we going to actually begin the retraining? What can I do as a manager to take this information back to my staff and enforce policies and procedures that would help protect women who are experiencing either sex trafficking or sexual abuse in any way?’ (The trainer) immediately shot me down and she said, ‘We’re not here to talk about that, Ramona. We’re here to teach you how to identify if you’re being videotaped or recorded or entrapped in any way.” – Ramona Treviño, former Planned Parenthood manager, Sherman, TX, after Planned Parenthood was caught aiding human traffickers and then pledged to retrain thousands of workers to report abuse and trafficking

Despite Planned Parenthood’s public claims of “fighting to end sexual assault” and the laws requiring them to report suspected abuse, their failure to report is intentional. Instead of intervening to eliminate sex trafficking and sexual assault, they deliberately allow women to be re-exploited for their own agenda. Planned Parenthood disregards its legal and moral obligation to protect victims of sexual assault. They have proven case after case, that their priority is not the wellbeing and safety of women, but selling abortions. 

These women deserved voices to fight for them and instead, Planned Parenthood enabled predators to continue the abuse with their silence. 

We must fight to end the industry that not only slaughters innocent children but leaves vulnerable women at the hands of abusers. 

Anna Kosten is an author, pro-life activist, and raises awareness about human trafficking and pornography. She is an aspiring soldier and law enforcement officer, passionate about helping others and working toward a better future for our country.

Editors' Note: The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pro Life Journal or its staff.