Parents demand abortion clinic's patient records
By James Nash, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH When a 14-year-old girl showed up at a Cincinnati abortion clinic in 2004, accompanied by a 21-year-old who was not her relative, clinic officials should have suspected statutory rape, an attorney for the girl's parents told the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday. Instead, Planned Parenthood performed the abortion without alerting the girl's parents or the authorities. The girl's parents are suing Planned Parenthood, alleging that the nonprofit organization has systematically ignored evidence of abuse against girls who visit Planned Parenthood's 37 Ohio clinics for abortions. The case took a detour from the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas to the Ohio Supreme Court to decide one issue: Should Planned Parenthood be compelled to turn over medical records -- albeit with names left out -- for dozens of other girls who might have been victimized? Attorneys for the Hamilton County girl's parents say yes. The records could establish a pattern of Planned Parenthood's overlooking evidence of statutory rape and other abuse of girls who seek abortions at its clinics, say the girl's parents, who are called John and June Roe in court records. "The case before the court today is about protecting children from abuse," said lawyer Charles M. Miller, who argued the parents' case along with co-counsel Brian E. Hurley, both of Cincinnati. Planned Parenthood lawyer Daniel J. Buckley denied that the medical provider shirks its responsibility to inform authorities of abuse. He said the Roes' case is about extracting punitive damages from Planned Parenthood. "I think the allegation is, at the very least, a big red herring," Buckley said. In March 2004, the 14-year-old identified as Jane Roe entered the Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio clinic with John Haller, the 21-year-old soccer coach who had impregnated her. The girl had attempted to evade parental-notification requirements by giving Haller's phone number as her father's, according to court records. When Haller accompanied her to the clinic, Jane Roe identified him as her stepbrother, court records show, and Haller used his credit card to pay for the abortion. Haller later was convicted of seven counts of sexual battery. The fact that Planned Parenthood fell for the ruse suggests that its staff and doctors are willing to overlook evidence of abuse, Miller and Hurley said. They said that they're looking for records of approximately 200 girls a year who seek abortions from Planned Parenthood in Ohio. The records would omit the girls' names and other information that could identify them, the lawyers said. Only those records would show whether Planned Parenthood neglected its duty to inform authorities of suspected abuse, Hurley said. "Most of these girls aren't going to disclose," he said. "They're ashamed. They're afraid." Buckley argued that the parents' attorneys could get answers through other means, such as putting Planned Parenthood officials under oath, without jeopardizing the privacy of girls who seek abortions. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling within a few months.
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