DENVER | Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains was hit with a complaint Wednesday for performing an abortion on a 13-year-old girl without reporting possible sexual abuse against the underage girl and returning her to the man who abused her.
The conservative Alliance Defending Freedom filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs against the Planned Parenthood affiliate on behalf of the pro-life Colorado Family Action.
A lawsuit filed against Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains and four unidentified employees on behalf of the girl was settled earlier this year.
Natalie L. Decker, ADF legal counsel, said that, “Colorado authorities should hold Planned Parenthood and its employees accountable.”
“Failing to report the sexual abuse of a minor is horrifically tragic and illegal,” said Ms. Decker in a statement. “Planned Parenthood has repeatedly shown brazen and appalling disregard for the law, including laws designed to protect children from this kind of damaging physical and emotional abuse.”
The complaint comes with the Denver-based Planned Parenthood affiliate reeling from an undercover video released Tuesday by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress showing Dr. Savita Ginde discussing how to maximize fetal tissue from abortions.
In the video, Dr. Ginde, medical director of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, says she supports separating fetal organs from the body, saying, “I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.”
According to court documents, the girl, known as R.Z., went to the Denver clinic on May 3, 2012, with her stepfather, Timothy David Smith. Although she wrote her correct birth date on forms, the Planned Parenthood employees did not question her or report suspected sexual abuse, as required by Colorado law.
Smith, who was later convicted of felony sexual abuse and sent to prison, identified himself as her father, although the girl referred to him during the visit as “Tim.” Colorado law requires giving parents 48 hours’ written notice before an abortion may be performed on a minor.
Smith also instructed the Planned Parenthood employees to give her a birth control injection. After the abortion, the girl left unaccompanied and met up with Smith in the parking lot.
She told her mother, Cary Smith, about the abuse on July 18, 2012. Her mother learned of the birth control injection and abortion after taking her daughter to the emergency room, then filed a lawsuit.
“Colorado law mandates the reporting of known or suspected abuse of minors, yet Planned Parenthood made no such report,” Ms. Decker said. “Tragically, had any of their employees made a call to authorities the day they saw this 13-year-old girl with her abuser, as Planned Parenthood is legally obligated to do, her abuse would have ended that day.”
Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains had no immediate comment on the complaint, although spokeswoman Marie Logsden said last year, in response to the lawsuit, that she was unable to comment on individual patients and that, “the well-being of our patients is our highest priority.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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