Reacting to the release of videotapes in which its staff members advise an apparent sex trafficker,Planned Parenthood said Monday that it would retrain thousands of staff members across the country on its rules for reporting possible dangers to minors, and would automatically fire anyone who violated them.
All employees who have contact with the public will attend special training sessions, tailored to local laws, in coming weeks, said Stuart Schear, vice president for communications of thePlanned Parenthood Federation of America.
“We’re doing this to reassure the public that we take these reporting requirements seriously,” Mr. Schear said.
With the announcement, Planned Parenthood hoped to blunt the public impact of what it calleda misleading string of covertly taped videos being released by Live Action, an anti-abortion group. On the videotapes, Planned Parenthood employees are heard telling a man who says he runs a “sex business” how to get medical care and abortions for under-age prostitutes.
When the retraining is completed in April, “termination of employment is the only possible action” when staff members do not report potential abuses of minors, the federation said in a statement.
In one of the videotapes released last week, the office manager of a New Jersey clinic is heard encouraging the presumed sex trafficker to have 14-year-old girls lie about their ages. Planned Parenthood quicklyfired that manager, calling her statements a repugnant violation of policy.
In a similar case involving clinics in Virginia, the agency said its staff members had responded properly — describing the legal options to the patient who inquired about abortions for young prostitutes, then reporting him to a manager. Planned Parenthood said it had reported the suspicious visits to clinics in New Jersey, Virginia and other states last month to local and federal law enforcement.
Planned Parenthood provides health screening, gynecological care, contraception and abortion services to some three million women at more than 800 clinics around the country. Its critics condemn it for providing legal abortions but have also charged that, with its strong focus on contraception and abortion, it is insensitive to the broader welfare of young women.
Anti-abortion groups have cited the new videotapes as they campaign to cut more than $75 million in federal financing that Planned Parenthood affiliates receive to provide family planning to low-income people. A bill has gained considerable Republican support in the House of Representatives.
Some of Planned Parenthood’s opponents were scornful of the safeguards announced Monday.
Lila Rose, president of Live Action, called the new measures “window dressing” and said, “Live Action’s investigation has uncovered a serious, institutional crisis in which Planned Parenthood is willing to aid and abet sex trafficking and exploitation of minors and young women.”
Planned Parenthood officials rejected the charge of systemic lapses and accused Live Action of entrapping its employees and misleading viewers.
They said employees had long been trained to obey local reporting laws as well as to use common sense when confronted with evidence of the abuse of minors.
The new round of training, they said, will not involve a change in policy but a reminder about those laws. Consistent with the law, clinics in most states will continue to provide confidential treatment and contraception to girls as young as 14 without parental consent.
But it is unreasonable, federation officials said, to expect those interviewing a new patient— and who are required by law to offer confidentiality — to take action on the spot.
“We are not asking the front-line health worker or receptionist to do a legal analysis of the situation, but rather to report it when there is any hint of a risk to the welfare of a minor,” Mr. Schear said.
Live Action has said that it will be releasing more covert videotapes in coming days.
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