Unsafe sex: Planned Parenthood's advice for teens

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sex acts.

Two new investigative videos from pro-life activists show Planned Parenthood workers giving underage girls advice about sadomasochistic sex. The discussions included topics such as bondage, asphyxiation, and whipping.

Undercover investigators with the pro-life group Live Action have received similar advice at each of seven Planned Parenthood centers they visited, communications director Drew Belsky told me. Live Action wants legislators to eliminate taxpayer funding for sex education at Planned Parenthood.

In a June 11, video, an Indiana counselor pointed a girl to a pornographic website and described her own sexual encounters. The two new videos come from centers operated by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in the Denver suburbs, which was recently sued for not reporting a 13-year-old girl’s sexual abuse. The three videos establish a pattern of Planned Parenthood employees’ encouraging young women to participate in any sexual activity that feels good as long as both partners consent.

In the Indiana video, the counselor told the girl to have “boundaries” and use a “safe word” if her sexual encounters with her boyfriend got too rough. “You have to be in that situation to know what you’re comfortable with,” she told the investigator, who was posing as a 15-year-old girl.

That first video apparently led to the counselor’s firing. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky CEO Betty Cockrum told USA Today the counselor crossed the line when she encouraged particular sex practices and told the patient information that was not age-appropriate. The organization preaches “accurate, medically based answers,” she said.

Unlike in Indiana, the Colorado counselors seemed uncomfortable, even repulsed by some of the investigator’s questions. A Littleton counselor said that certain practices “scare the hell out" of her, and a visibly uncomfortable Lakewood counselor chose her words slowly. But both ultimately admitted that their opinions didn’t matter. Pornography, sex shops, “thorough” Google searches, and even gagging are for minors to explore. “As long as it feels comfortable for both partners, it’s totally OK,” the Lakewood counselor said.

“We see this sometimes in our investigations. Even counselors who show aversion to what they’re saying still must say it,” Belsky said. “They call it ‘non-judgmentalism,’ but what we’re seeing is that it is extremely dangerous. And it results in all sorts of dangerous counseling.”

“This Planned Parenthood-approved advice of ‘do whatever you want, but just use a safe word’ says to kids that rape scenarios can have a part in safe and healthy sexuality,” Live Action president Lila Rose said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains is already bragging about receiving Obamacare grants specifically for sex education.”

Planned Parenthood is authoring curriculum, mentoring educators, and attempting to build rapport with children with a relativistic and often dangerous worldview, Belsky said. “One of the things they are most scared of telling anyone is ‘don’t,’” he said. “They are so intent on pretending that they’re not making any value judgments that they’re following this reasoning into an ethical worldview that is damaging for our children—and really for everyone.”