This news comes as no surprise, but as was the case with the ACORN video exposé, the target of Live Action’s investigation is not any specific branch manager.
N.J. Star Ledger has the report:
PERTH AMBOY — The man and woman walked into the Planned Parenthood clinic in Perth Amboy sounding like the operators of a child sex ring looking for help with their business.
They told the manager they would bring in girls as young as 14 for tests, birth control and abortion referrals and wanted to know what kind of questions to expect from clinic employees.
The manager was helpful. She coached them to lie about the age of the girls’ sex partners. “If they are a minor, we are obligated if we hear certain information, to kind of report (it),” the manager said. “So as long as they just lie and say, ‘Oh, he’s 15, 16,’ …” no one should question them.
But the man and woman were actually members of Live Action, a California-based anti-abortion group that targeted Planned Parenthood clinics in five states and Washington, D.C., last month. The scenes were videotaped and posted on YouTube, and today created a national uproar.
Tonight, Central Jersey Planned Parenthood fired the manager, identified in the video as Amy Woodruff, and beefed up security around its clinics.
“We were profoundly shocked when we viewed the videotape released this morning, which depicted an employee of one of our health centers behaving in a repugnant manner that is inconsistent with our standards of care and is completely unacceptable,” Phyllis Kinsler, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Central Jersey said in a statement released at 10:20 p.m.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of behavior, and the employee in the video was immediately suspended from her duties this morning and was terminated this evening,” Kinsler said. “We are fully committed to delivering high-quality reproductive health care to the women of our communities, complying with all laws, and upholding the highest ethical standards.”
She also condemned Live Action’s sting, questioning how dramatically the video was edited.
By day’s end, Kinsler said, three Planned Parenthood clinics under her supervision — Perth Amboy, Hazlet and Shrewsbury — had received about 10 “harassing” phone calls, including one saying, “They should just bomb your place.” She reported the calls to the FBI and local police and asked for their help tightening security.
Attorney General Paula Dow asked the Division of Criminal Justice to investigate whether the manager broke any laws. “At first glance, I find these allegations to be very disturbing,” Dow said in a statement. Her spokesman Paul Loriquet said Gov. Chris Christie’s office and some legislators had referred the matter to her attention.
Lila Rose, president of Live Action, said the video “proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks state and federal laws and covers up the abuse of young girls it claims to serve.” The group suggested laws on aiding and abetting sex traffickers were broken.
Full article here.
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