Colorado mom: Planned Parenthood protected my daughter's rapist

A Colorado woman filed suit June 20 against Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and four unidentified employees for allegedly failing to report her daughter’s sexual abuse.

Cary Smith’s then-13 year old daughter, identified in the suit as R.Z., had been verbally and sexually abused by her step-father, Tim Smith, for about 7 years before becoming pregnant in April 2012, according to the complaint. Three weeks later, Tim Smith took R.Z. to the Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood facility for an abortion. Despite indications of abuse and opportunities to speak privately with R.Z., Planned Parenthood employees never questioned the girl about her situation or any potential abuse.

Colorado law requires abortion providers to report known or suspected sexual abuse. The four Planned Parenthood employees who worked with R.Z. knew her age and could see from her paperwork that she had a different last name from her step-father, according to the complaint. Smith identified himself as R.Z.’s father, but she referred to him as “Tim” during the appointment. Smith also pressured R.Z. into receiving a contraceptive injection. R.Z. had her abortion the day of the appointment although a Colorado law requires a 48 hour wait period after a pending-abortion notification is delivered to a minor client’s home.

Two months ago, a Planned Parenthood facility in Arizona was accused of a similar failure to report sexual abuse. The allegations came from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office following the arrest of 18-year-old Tyler Kost, who is accused of raping or molesting 18 girls during a three-year period. One of his victims visited a Planned Parenthood facility with her mother on New Year’s Eve. Although the mother told a worker her daughter had been sexually abused, the counselor intentionally classified the assault as a consensual encounter.

According to pro-life group Live Action, these reports challenge Planned Parenthood’s new motto: “Care. No matter what.” Despite the pending lawsuit, Marie Logsden, a spokeswoman for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood, told The Washington Times, the facility puts patients first: “The well-being of our patients is our highest priority.”

Cary Smith disagrees, blaming Planned Parenthood for allowing her daughter’s abuse to continue for more than two more months before the girl finally told her mother what was going on. Tim Smith pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sexual abuse in 2012.