Planned Parenthood facing 107 criminal charges

October 17, 2007

A 107-count criminal complaint has been filed against a Planned Parenthood operation in Kansas, alleging its operators not only failed to diagnose required conditions for late-term abortions but also performed illegal abortions and provided false information about them.

“Yippie,” said Cheryl Sullenger, a spokeswoman for the nearby Wichita-based Operation Rescue. “This is what we’ve been saying all along, that
they’ve been breaking the law.”

The complaint was filed by Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline, who said in a prepared statement that he would not be commenting on the case against the Olathe business.

But the statement noted that the counts against Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri were reviewed by Johnson County District Judge James Vano, who found probable cause on each count.

The corporation has been ordered to appear in court on Nov. 16, and if convicted on all counts could face more than $2.5 million in potential fines, officials said.

WND attempts to obtain a comment from Planned Parenthood were unsuccessful. But Peter Brownlie, the organization’s president, told the Associated Press he’s heard nothing about the charges.

“We always provide high-quality care in full accord with state and federal law,” he told AP.

“This is the first step in obtaining justice for the preborn children and finally putting abortions and the abortion cartel behind bars,” said Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman. “This is vindication for the pro-life movement and all the work that pro-lifers have done throughout the years to expose the lies and criminal activities of the likes of Planned Parenthood.”

He said he expects other investigations in other jurisdictions now to result. “We’re going to be demanding it,” he told WND. “If you don’t comport with national Planned Parenthood policies … you’re not a Planned Parenthood.”

And if there is a conviction, he suggested the financial penalties could go far beyond the impact of the fines. The hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars given each year to Planned Parenthood are tied to a requirement that state and local laws be followed. Absent compliance with those laws could trigger a forfeiture of those funds, he noted.

The organization is facing 23 felony counts of “Making a False Information” and a total of 84 misdemeanor counts. Those include 26 of “Unlawful Failure to Maintain Record,” 29 of “Unlawful Failure to Determine Viability for a Late-Term Abortion,” and 29 of “Unlawful Late-Term Abortion.”

“Planned Parenthood is accused of falsifying records to cover up numerous violations of state law against aborting late-term babies,” added Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. “Now we know what Planned Parenthood means by ‘privacy’ when it refuses to release information on the abortions it commits on pre-born babies – it is claiming privacy on its own alleged illegal actions.”

She said tax dollars from U.S. citizens “may be subsidizing this alleged illegal activity. The Department of Health and Human Services should being an immediate investigation to discover whether other Planned Parenthoods around the country engage in the same type of potentially illegal activities, violating state and federal law.”

“People have a right to expect that the laws enacted by their representatives are followed to the letter,” added Judy Smith, the Kansas state director for CWA. “As a women’s organization, we want to ensure that every woman receives the legally approved medical standard of care on any procedure, including abortion.”

As WND reported earlier, Mark Crutcher, of Life Dynamics, which previously conducted an undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood operations, has suggested the abortion industry is involved with vast numbers of violations of local and state laws involved across the country.

He said it’s a simple comparison of abortion industry “services” provided to underage girls and the “reports” of suspicion of assault on a child. Those “services,” his research has shown, outnumber the reports 11-1 nationwide.

The Title X funding requirements to follow state and local laws, or pay the penalty, he said, should kick in.

“The fact that these family planning facilities are in clear violation of child abuse or statutory rape reporting requirements creates an environment for us to demand that their funding be immediately cut off,” Crutcher said in the earlier report. “Given their heavy reliance on state and federal tax dollars, losing that money would be nothing less than a financial catastrophe for these organizations.”

“Better yet, their failure to adhere to state and federal law means that funds allocated in past years were obtained fraudulently. Because of that, we may be able to force a return of those funds. Needless to say that could literally cripple the entire abortion industry,” he concluded.

The Johnson County case alleges Planned Parenthood repeatedly made false statements, contrary to state law.

Count One alleges Planned Parenthood submitted “in response to a court ordered subpoena issued by the Honorable Richard D. Anderson, Shawnee County District Court Judge, and did represent that said document was a copy of an original document maintained in said file and filed with the KDHE, all done with the intent to defraud or induce official action, in violation of [state law].”

The misdemeanors involved other violations of Kansas’ legal requirements for diagnosing conditions required for abortions, and keeping records of them.

Count 86, for example, cites: That on or about June 11, 2003, in Johnson County, State of Kansas, Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, Inc., did, then and there, contrary to the statutes of the State of Kansas, unlawfully perform or cause to be performed a late term abortion on a fetus with a gestational age of 22 weeks or more, to wit: In file CH089100917, the abortion of a viable fetus under Kansas law … when the abortion was not necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman and there was not any finding that the mother would suffer severe and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function if the abortion was not performed … and without a documented referral from another physician not legally or financially affiliated with the physician performing or inducing the abortion…”

Kline, the former attorney general in Kansas, had begun the investigation in that post. He was defeated by a candidate who during the campaign spoke of no need for an investigation of abortions in Kansas. Ironically, Kline ended up swapping positions with that candidate, former Johnson County DA Paul Morrison, and continued to have jurisdiction over the Planned Parenthood investigation because of his new position.

He also had filed a series of criminal counts against Wichita late-term abortionist George Tiller, but those charges were dropped by Morrison, who later substituted other, lesser, charges against Tiller stemming from Kline’s investigation.

Tiller also has been named in a state complaint alleging he performed a late-term abortion before the woman had signed consent forms.

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