For Immediate Release
 

Ohio Supreme Court to Review Abortion
Case Involving Sexual Abuse

Springfield, IL (April 4, 2008) -- The Ohio Supreme Court will review a lawsuit filed against Planned Parenthood by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who underwent a secret abortion after becoming pregnant by a 21-year-old.

According to news reports, the Court reversed an earlier decision not to hear the case and announced it will hold a hearing on the issue. The parents charge that the Planned Parenthood abortion business violated state law by failing to notify them of the abortion and not reporting possible sexual abuse to authorities. The lawsuit also accuses Planned Parenthood of failing to obtain proper informed consent before the abortion.

This is not the only case in which abortion businesses have faced problems over not reporting sexual abuse, covering up for sexual predators and resulting in the the continued abuse of teen girls.

In another Ohio case, a teen is suing Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio after she had an abortion there, saying she told staff that her father was sexually abusing her but that the abortion business did not report the abuse to authorities. The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood has a "don't ask, don't tell policy" about sexual abuse and that the girl endured another 18 months of abuse as a result. Her father was later convicted of sexually abusing her.

In 2002, a judge found a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arizona negligent for failing to report a case in which a 13-year-old girl was impregnated by her 23-year-old foster brother, who then took her for an abortion. Planned Parenthood did not notify authorities until the girl returned six months later for a second abortion. A lawsuit alleged that the girl was subjected to repeated abuse and a second abortion because Planned Parenthood failed to notify authorities of possible abuse when she had her first abortion. The girl's foster brother was later imprisoned for abusing her.¹