May 24, 2002
HARTFORD — When faced with a caller claiming to be a 13-year-old girl impregnated by a 22-year-old man, Planned Parenthood chapters across the state advised her to not mention the man's age when getting an abortion, television station WTIC reported.Some employees of women's clinics are required by law to report apparent or suspected child abuse to state authorities. A 22-year-old man who has sex with a 13-year-old girl would be guilty of statutory rape.
Life Dynamics Inc., a Texas-based anti-abortion group, placed calls to more than 800 abortion clinics and family planning centers across the country.
In Texas, unlike in Connecticut, it's legal to tape a call without the other party's knowledge. The calls to Connecticut clinics took place in February.
Mark Crutcher, who heads the group, told WTIC-TV that in 91 percent of the cases, employees agreed to keep the sexual relationship — which is considered statutory rape — a secret. Life Dynamics said some clinics in Connecticut and across the country tried to get the girl's name so they could report the abuse.
A Willimantic Planned Parenthood employee was caught on tape telling the caller not to bring up the boyfriend when she goes for her abortion.
"They won't ask anything about him?" the caller asks.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, OK?" the employee says. "Don't even bring that up, OK?"
An employee at Bridgeport Planned Parenthood tells the caller that the relationship is illegal, but doesn't mention her mandated reporting responsibility.
"If you're 14 and he's 22, that's illegal," the employee says.
Planned Parenthood responded only with a brief statement: "Planned Parenthood questions the reliability of staged tapes of supposed telephone conversations surreptitiously prepared by Life Dynamics, an organization with a notorious anti-Planned Parenthood agenda."
WTIC-TV called every facility Life Dynamics claims are heard on the tapes. The station reported that the tones heard on the tapes matched the tones its reporter heard while dialing. The station also said it asked for employees by the names of those heard talking on the tapes, and found them in each case.
Some of the names were less common, such as Glenda and Heidi.
State Child Advocate Jeannie Milstein said the tapes are troubling, regardless of the group's agenda.
"Never, ever tell a child to lie. That's just scandalous," Milstein said.
