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Will the Church Take On Planned Parenthood?

Protestant Attorneys Call for Help

By Nicholas Owen

San Diego Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright on August 29 threw out two counts of a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two of its Southern California affiliates accusing the abortion provider of unlawful business practices and not reporting sexual abuse of minors. Allen v. Planned Parenthood was initiated in August attorneys Richard Ackerman and Gary 2002 by attorneys Richard Ackerman and Gary Kreep on behalf of Megan Allen, a former PP employee who claims she was wrongfully terminated for whistle blowing at the PP Encinitas clinic. The suit alleged that PP let unlicensed workers administer drugs without a lawful prescription and "to perform venipuncture, to diagnose medical conditions, to acquire informed consent from patients, and other activities requiring a medical license." The complaint also alleges that Allen, with "no medical license, whatsoever" was required "to assess and diagnose medical conditions, to screen patients, to assist in the recovery room, to assist in abortions, and to engage in taking vital signs of patients, all of which were done in the absence or supervision of licensed personnel as required by law." Enright dismissed this count, arguing that the three Planned Parenthood entities "are corporate entities ... not licensed to practice medicine" and therefore incapable of complying with the Business and Professions Code, even though the San Diego and Los Angeles affiliates routinely perform abortions, dispense contraceptives and abortifacient drugs, and recruit medical personnel.

In another count, attorney Ackerman charged that PP knew that physical or sexual abuse of hundreds of children was occurring but did not report it. He offered as evidence that girls as young as five years old were seen by Planned Parenthood "for conditions within the scope of sexually related treatment" and that the San Diego affiliate "treated one toddler-girl 1 to 4 years of age."

"In most of these instances," added Ackerman, "Defendants had reason to know that bodily fluids had been exchanged between these 292 children age 14 or younger and some other person." California law requires that all suspected sexual activity by children under 15 years old be reported.

In a seeming reversal of the "corporate entity" logic, Enright struck down Count 15, the child sexual abuse allegation, by saying that "The statutes allegedly violated by [Planned Parenthood] apply to individuals, not corporate entities."

In addition to Enright's ruling, Planned Parenthood is seeking sanctions of $11,817.80 and $20,540.57, against attorneys Ackerman and Kreep for filing what they term a "frivolous claim."

The Planned Parenthood sanction was filed by attorney James McElroy and his partner, Shannon Nugent. McElroy is well-known in San Diego for suing pro-lifers and for his legal efforts to remove the Mt. Soledad cross.

"This is insane," said Ackerman in an October 8 interview. "They're claiming that it is frivolous for any attorney to argue that there is a corporate responsibility to insure sexual abuse reporting. It's analogous to saying that if you have a corporate youth soccer league or a preschool that is run by a corporation, there's no responsibility to report abuse even if the corporation knows about it."

In July 2002, McElroy appeared with Ackerman on the Fox News program, The O'Reilly Factor. According to the United State Justice Foundation website, "When asked about the issue of girls as young as 12 years old being impregnated by adult males, and the responsibility of Planned Parenthood to report this to law enforcement authorities, Mr. McElroy replied that Planned Parenthood was not required to be, in effect, an investigative agency and an arm of law enforcement authorities. Unfortunately for Mr. McElroy, California law requires the reporting of any sexual activity involving minors under 14 years of age and any sexual activities of minors which involves an adult."

In San Diego, Planned Parenthood representatives conduct classroom sessions on anatomy and physiology for 5th grade and up to help children "Identify anatomical reproductive parts of the human male and female," and birth control for 6th grade and up.

Planned Parenthood's Teenwire website contains articles about masturbation and homosexual and heterosexual sex practices, and a link to help youngsters find its services in 50 states.

Ackerman plans to appeal the case and is calling on the Catholic Church for help. He concluded his press release, "This [case] creates a horrible precedent and a double standard. One can hardly claim foul against the Catholic Church for failing to report abuse, when Planned Parenthood is incredibly worse about protecting children. It will be interesting to see if the Catholic Church will back us up on appeal by filing a friend of the court brief."

For more information, contact Richard Ackerman at (909) 308-6454 or Gary Kreep at (800) FOR-USJF, or visit the United States Justice Foundation website at www.usjf.net.

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