Two Ohio court rulings make it more difficult for men to molest young girls and then use Planned Parenthood’s abortion services to cover their tracks.
One case, Fairbanks v. Planned Parenthood S.W. Ohio Region, concerned a 16-year-old girl impregnated by her biological father. A more recent case, Doe (Wallace) v. Planned Parenthood S.W. Ohio Region,focused on a 14-year-old girl impregnated by her 21-year-old soccer coach.
In the Fairbanks case, the 16-year-old girl told a Planned Parenthood employee she had been forced “to do things [she] didn’t want to do.” Under Ohio law, this statement triggered Planned Parenthood’s duty to report, which Planned Parenthood ignored.
As a result of Planned Parenthood’s silence, the girl continued to endure molestation from her father for another year and half.
In the Doe case, the ease with which Planned Parenthood policies allowed circumvention of Ohio’s parental notification laws came into stark relief.
A soccer coach who began having sex with his female player was able to get around the notification laws by providing Planned Parenthood with his own cell number. He then acted as if he was the girl’s father when the abortionists called, and that was that. Planned Parenthood knew that a cell phone call did not satisfy the requirements of the law, but apparently it was satisfactory enough for the abortion giant’s bottom line, so the statutory rape went unreported.
Although the outcomes of these two cases did not result in direct, court-ordered obligations on Planned Parenthood, they are catalysts for changes in Ohio law that will make it harder for molesters and those like Planned Parenthood who try to protect them.
For example, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in Ohio won’t be able to remain quiet when a 16-year-girl tells them what a man is doing to her in the future. Minors who are the victims of sexual abuse can now bring civil action claims against individuals who breach their duty to report the abuse, and they can now seek punitive damages against individuals and entities that breach their duties to report the abuse as well.
Children who find themselves in the position of the 14-year-old soccer player will be better protected, too, as Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers must now take commonsense steps to make absolutely sure parents are taking part in the life-ending decisions their minor children are thinking about making. These steps include obtaining written consent from at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor.
In addition, Planned Parenthood also has to face the fact that the ruling recognized a nationally renowned and “pro-choice psychologist who truthfully admitted that girls and women who have abortions can and do sometimes suffer from long-term and serious psychological problems as a result of abortions.”
The anonymity molesters have enjoyed in the past while carrying out their misdeeds in the state of Ohio should now be much more difficult to maintain. And that’s good news for everyone, and especially for the vulnerable, who are now better protected.
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