Once again Planned Parenthood finds itself embroiled in legal controversy as they are in the midst of losing a lawsuit regarding a breach of informed consent and parental consent laws brought against them by an Ohio girl and her parents. This girl received an abortion from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ohio back in 2004 when she was only 14 years old. Now, she is in the process of suing Planned Parenthood because they failed to legitimately obtain either of these consents for her. In the state of Ohio, like many other states across the nation, every woman seeking an abortion (whether a minor or not) must have “informed consent” prior to undergoing the abortion procedure. This informed consent consists of the prospective abortion doctor having a meeting with the woman to explain possible abortion alternatives, medical risks of the procedure, and in some instances the prospect of fetal pain. In addition to the informed consent, if the mother seeking abortion is under the age of 18 she must also have parental consent within 24 hours in order to proceed with the abortion. (Here’s a link to a brief rundown of Ohio state abortion laws)
In this particular situation Planned Parenthood had the legal obligation to obtain both of these consents because the girl seeking the abortion was a minor. They failed on both accounts. On Tuesday, Dec. 7th, the first step was taken by a county pleas court in ruling against Planned Parenthood when that court determined that no doctor had provided the girl with informed consent prior to the abortion procedure. That’s correct. Planned Parenthood provided ZERO alternatives and ZERO facts about possible health risks TO A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL! Beyond this and perhaps more disturbingly is that the girl had become pregnant as a result of a prolonged sexual relationship with her 22 year old soccer coach who was later convicted of sexual battery against her and consequentially served a prison term. The lawsuit will go to trial in February to determine if Planned Parenthood was in breach of the parental consent laws because the girl’s parents were never contacted since she had her soccer coach pretend to be her father during a phone conversation which qualified as the parental consent.
Yet again we have to ask ourselves: is an organization that illegally provides an abortion for a 14 year old girl who is at the same time a victim of sexual abuse by an adult really worthy of receiving Federal tax dollars? The answer has to be an emphatic, “NO!” Please, if you have not already signed our petition to stop ALL Federal funding of abortion, including the Title X funds which go to Planned Parenthood, do so now by following this link to our petition page:
https://sbaprolife.org/legislation/stop-abortion-funding
Again stay on the lookout for updates on H.R. 614 sponsored by Pro-Life hero Mike Pence which should gain momentum as we move nearer to the 2011 legislative year and its wealth of Pro-Life advocates in the House.
