All the advantages

The pro-life organization Live Action sent an actor posing as a pimp into Planned Parenthood facilities in several states last winter, including at least three in Virginia, resulting in a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood workers apparently helping the pimp break the law. The actor asked for birth control for his sex workers and the Planned Parenthood staffer in Roanoke pointed him to a clinic that could give him everything he needed.

"They're discreet, they're confidential-because frankly, it's nobody's business," she said. Richmond's Planned Parenthood worker shared the sentiment: "No judgment, no sharing of information, nothing like that here," she said.

Other Planned Parenthood workers in several states gave the pimp information and advice on how to get abortions or other medical care without documentation. Some referred him to other clinics where less identification was necessary. A Falls Church Planned Parenthood employee advised him to get birth control over the counter in order to evade paperwork.

"You need to know that what you see in these videos presented by Live Action is not a rare occurrence," writes Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who left the organization and is now on staff at Live Action. "It happens every day in some Planned Parenthood clinics in this country. Pimps are sending their workers into the arms of Planned Parenthood."

In fact, when a federally-funded abortion agency encounters a child who is likely being sexually exploited, even accompanied, by her pimp, who gets the most help? It may be the pimp.

Naïveté or willful ignorance?

In part, that is because Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers (at least in Virginia) apparently do not report underage victims of sex trafficking. Spokesmen for the Virginia State Police and the FBI in Virginia say they have never had an abortion clinic report finding or interacting with an underage sex worker. Andrew Ames, Public Affairs Specialist for FBI Washington, D.C. said that he could not discuss specific referrals, but added that he was "unaware of a case in federal court in D.C. or Northern Virginia related to underage sex workers and abortion clinics."

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America defended its Richmond affiliate, saying that the employee acted professionally under the circumstances. The staff member notified her supervisor of the sex trafficker's visit, who then alerted Planned Parenthood's national security team.

Steve Wagner, President of the Renewal Forum and former head of the Human Trafficking Program at the Department of Health and Human Services, suggests that Planned Parenthood may be oblivious to the crime in attempting to be helpful and confidential. With all the attention on international sex trafficking some may not realize how pervasive the problem is domestically.

"The face of human trafficking in the United States is an American kid, caught up in commercial sexual exploitation, as opposed to someone from a different country," Wagner said. "There are not many aware of this, but it is a terrible and widespread problem."

He adds, however, that "what they cannot be unaware of is that their patients are unable to give informed consent," he said. "When a juvenile shows up, not with a parent, that should immediately be setting off alarm bells. But PP is so focused on providing abortions, they don't stop to ask whether the patient is able to provide informed consent."

But during her time at Planned Parenthood, Johnson did not see this naïveté; in her experience, the organization's ignorance was intentional. "When we did talk to a minor, we tried to get the least amount of info as possible...the less the better," Johnson said. "That is the way Planned Parenthood sees it."

The judicial bypass

Another factor that leaves trafficked girls vulnerable to the advantage of their pimps: abortion facilities have found a way around parental consent laws called a judicial bypass. It allows juvenile courts to give consent in lieu of a parent. Thirty-six states require some parental involvement in a minor's decision to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Of those 36 states, every one has a judicial bypass system, including Virginia.

However, if you call a local Virginia court and ask about judicial bypass, the answers may be vague. A representative at the Charlottesville juvenile court said it is done by every juvenile court in Virginia, but little information is available.

The National Association for Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), a prominent pro-choice group, is investigating judicial bypass as a way to get around what it considers onerous parental consent laws. NARAL officials listed on their website a request for a summer policy intern to investigate Virginia's judicial bypass system. Shortly after being asked about the position, NARAL removed the listing and refused to comment on the advertisement.

Despite the lack of information on the web concerning the judicial bypass, abortion clinics report that it is a common practice. Jill Abbey, director of a Virginia abortion clinic called Richmond Medical Center for Women, said the judicial bypass is a fairly quick and easy process. The medical center usually uses judicial bypass once every three months. According to the law, judicial bypass must be heard and decided no later than four days after requested. There is no cost for the clinic or the minor.

"All the girls have said that it is an easy process, pretty manageable," she said.

When asked whether minors frequent her clinic, Abbey said that approximately 10 percent of the girls who come in are minors. "We don't get any sex workers that we are aware of-but we could just not know," she said.

In the Live Action video filmed in Richmond, the Planned Parenthood employee suggested that the pimp use the judicial bypass system to procure an abortion for his juvenile sex workers. "We're doing them once or twice a month here," she said. "…We're pretty good at handling if someone, you know, doesn't want someone else to know."

Wagner is convinced the procedure is used often and the courts either are not aware or not engaging the fact that these clients may be sexually-exploited children. "We know from the Live Action video that was shot in Virginia that they routinely use the judicial bypass in order to perform abortions on juveniles without parental consent," Wagner said. "The Planned Parenthood worker in Virginia described it as virtually a formality, that they are willing to provide an abortion for anyone... I think you will find that any state that has parental consent requirements also has judicial bypass, and it is being used to provide abortions to juvenile victims of trafficking."

Establishing accountability

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told the Associated Press that he viewed a portion of the Richmond Live Action video and found it "very disturbing." Governor Bob McDonnell was "deeply troubled" by the video and urged local police to investigate. The New Jersey attorney general opened an investigation into Planned Parenthood.

"We'll certainly we take an interest any time you see an expression like you do in these tapes of a willingness to support sex trafficking of minors," Cuccinelli said during an appearance on the Fox News Channel last winter.

Attempts to defund Planned Parenthood on a federal level failed earlier this summer, but nine states have done so to date. Public attention to the issue could persuade more law enforcement officials to investigate domestic child trafficking. "We need to ensure that Planned Parenthood is meeting its obligation to report to the authorities every case of suspected abuse," Wagner said, "which includes any kid which appears to have been sexually exploited by an adult."

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