Franks Calls on State Officials to Investigate Planned Parenthood of Arizona

Press Release

Franks Calls on State Officials to Investigate Planned Parenthood of Arizona

Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) today responded totwo new videos released this week by Lila Rose, a twenty-year old student at UCLA and President of Live Action Films. The video portrays clinic workers at two different Planned Parenthood sites in Arizona assuring two young girls, in flagrant violation of the law, that the organization would not report statutory rape.

"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 stated. "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. The likely result has been that an untold number of children who might already have been harmed by sexual abuse are often given back into the hands of their abusers by clinic workers, with no questions asked.

"The ultimate test of any society is how it treats its children. If we fail to protect the most innocent among us, we forfeit the most basic value in Western Civilization. It is imperative that local officials look into these reports and ensure that Planned Parenthood is not allowed to continue hurting children by its deliberate failure to report potential cases of sexual abuse and statutory rape.

"This also demonstrates yet another reason why I support the Title X Abortion Provider Act, which would prohibit federal funds from being used for 'family planning' organizations that perform abortion as a method of family planning. The role of government must always be to protect life, not destroy it, and to that end, it is critical for Planned Parenthood's alleged violations of state and federal law be properly addressed, to ensure that we protect innocent American children."

These are not the first instances in Arizona where Planned Parenthood has failed to report potential sexual abuse. In February, Live Action exposed a similar case in Tucson, Arizona. And in 2002, an Arizona judge found the abortion provider negligent for failing to report the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl by her 23-year-old foster brother.

With over 850 clinics nationwide, Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. Congressman Franks is a sponsor of H.R. 614, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from providing federal funding to family planning organizations that provide abortions.

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