"A Blind Eye to Statutory Rape."
                        
    A study of 46,500 school-age mothers in California published in the American Journal of Public Health revealed that two-thirds of the girls were impregnated by adults whose average age was 22.  A federal report to Congress also concluded that two-thirds of the males are 20 or older.

     This is a crime, "statutory rape." A girl of 15, a minor, cannot legally consent to sexual relations with an adult male. These illicit relationships leave the girls very vulnerable to abusing drugs or alcohol, being lured into prostitution,  having a child out-of-wedlock and ending up on welfare or running away from home, or even committing suicide.

     Yet the crimes are rarely reported.

     In every state, if health care workers suspect that an underage girl is being sexually abused, they are legally required to report it to law enforcement or child protective services.

     If the girl becomes pregnant and calls an abortion provider, such as a Planned Parenthood clinic, those health workers are required by law to report the crime. They rarely do.

     "The driving force behind this tragedy is the fact that men who prey on underage girls have powerful national organizations that are willing to harbor them," asserts Mark Crutcher of Life Dynamics. "Our investigation has uncovered irrefutable evidence that both Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation - often operating on taxpayer dollars - knowingly conceal these crimes while aiding and abetting the sexual predators who commit them."   

     Life Dynamics, a non-profit pro-life group, conducted an undercover survey of all 906 Planned Parenthood and Abortion Federation facilities, and spoke with 813 of them. A 24-year-investigator posing as a 13-year-old said she was pregnant by her 22-year-old boy friend. She wanted an abortion because she did not want her parents to find out about her relationship.

     "The results of this survey were appalling," said Crutcher. Even though 91% of clinic workers said they were required by law to report the statutory rape, "virtually every Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation facility we contacted was willing to illegally conceal the sexual abuse of the 13-year-old girl." They coached callers on how to avoid detection, by lying about their age or that of the boy friend because he "could go to jail." 

     In half the states the parents of a minor must be informed about an abortion. Abortion clinics told their alleged 13-year-old caller how to avoid that by lying about her age or going to a nearby state without the parental law.

     When the Life Dynamics caller asked if she could get birth control assistance from the clinic, she was told yes. Thus, "the abortion industry enables the continued abuse of these girls," keeping these underage girls available to sexual predators," charges Crutcher.

     "Our investigation proves that the single most important factor behind the epidemic of adult men sexually exploiting underage girls is the willingness of Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation to conceal these crimes."

     These groups received $260 million in federal aid. So you and I are subsidizing the rape of thousands of young American girls! 

     Planned Parenthood was unavailable to answer these charges. A spokeswoman for the National Abortion Federation said, "Life Dynamics is an extreme anti-choice group...Our clinics adhere to state guidelines." Asked how many reports are made to authorities, she had no answer.

     This is an outrage, and one that mainstream media has refused to report upon. Only Focus on the Family has given the issue visibility.

     Dr. Alma Golden, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Population Affairs, who oversees federal funding in this area, acknowledges the problem: "We have a large group of providers and youth service workers who become aware of kids involved with older men, and are not following up to be sure they get out of the exploitative relationship."

     Federal guidelines require recipients of federal funding to follow state laws with regard to underage reporting. But it is not being done. There are two investigations underway, such as by the HHS Inspector General. A few State Attorney Generals, such as Kansas AG Phill (cq) Kline, have been trying to enforce the law. Most ignore it.

     Sadly, law enforcement is lax. As a pediatrician, Dr. Golden tried to report upon an 18-year-old's affair with a 13 year old, but the authorities said, "We have a lot more important things to do."

     What can be done?

     Consider the firestorm the Catholic Church has faced over pedophile priests. Dioceses paid hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits and settlements. But the issue was not simply priests molesting children. Rather, dioceses are sued because they allegedly knew about the sexual abuse of children and failed to report it.

     What's needed is a similar series of civil suits against the various partners of this grim conspiracy.