Planned Parenthood in potential hot water over alleged misfilings
Joshua Bowling
Planned Parenthood’s Arizona offices have recently come under fire from pro-life group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who said that the institution has been intentionally misfiling sexual abuses as consensual.
Natalie Decker, the lead attorney for ADF on this case, said that they have contacted Ari-zona’s Health Services Department to investigate this charge.
This controversy falls at the feet of Tyler Kost, an alleged rapist from San Tan Valley. Kost was in Pinal County Court on Wednesday, Aug, 13. Jim Knupp, the spokesman for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, stated that Kost faces 30 charges from three indictments, all coming from 13 victims. Kost’s youngest victim was 13 years old, and his oldest was 17 years old, according to Pinal County Sheriff’s investigators.
A police report contains allegations from the mother of one of Kost’s victims: She took her daughter to the Tempe Planned Parenthood office, because she had become pregnant after being assaulted by Kost, in December 2013. She went on to tell detectives that the Planned Parenthood counselor purposely mislabeled the pregnancy as resulting from a consensual encounter because she didn’t “want the hassle” of reporting it to the authorities.
Planned Parenthood Arizona said that these claims came from a probable cause statement given to a judge to allow the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to arrest Kost. The contents of this statement have not been investigated, Planned Parenthood Arizona states. They said in their press statement that they “take the allegations … very seriously and will fully cooperate with any agency on an investigation.” They went on to say that they “follow all laws and issue appropriate reports to authorities. We have a zero tolerance policy for staff who fail to follow this policy.”
Planned Parenthood’s screening process requires 2 interviews where questions are asked concerning personal safety and force regarding sexual relationships. They claim to have reported 33 such cases to the proper authorities in the 12 months leading up to June.
Decker, though, wants to see further investigation. She stated that ADF is “interested in finding out the truth about what happened. We’re interested in seeing Planned Parenthood held accountable for its actions, or its inactions.”
In addition to contacting Arizona’s Health Services Department, ADF contacted Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s office.
Attorney General Horne’s office was contacted but declined to comment, as is their normal procedure for an ongoing investigation.
Arizona’s Health Services Department, dclined to comment as well.
Decker said that she finds “Planned Parenthood’s reckless disregard for the law” alarming.
Planned Parenthood Arizona claims they first heard of this case in May from a member of the media. They then contacted the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to get more information regarding these allegations. Their “hearts
go out to any individuals who are victimized and their loved ones.”
ADF does not believe that it ends here, though. “Planned Parenthood needs to be investigated, and now. Not just Tempe, but all of their Arizona offices. This is not the first allegation …” Decker said. She also raises the
question: “How many other cases of abuse involving children have been deliberately neglected?”
James Taylor, a student attending Mesa Community College, said that he has heard of similar happenings in the news regarding Planned Parenthood.
“It seems like their structure has a flaw in it,” he said with regard to their policy of reporting to the authorities. “That does not excuse the person for not going through the politics,” Taylor said.
Taylor believes that the authorities should start to monitor Planned Parenthood more closely. “There needs to be a more direct link to the authorities,” Taylor said. He explained that there are serious things – such as
sexual abuse – that come through Planned Parenthood’s doors. “There should be some sort of authority there that people can go straight to,” Taylor said.
Planned Parenthood is still under investigation by Attorney General Horne’s office. The Pinal County Attorney’s Office states that Tyler Kost’s pretrial conference is scheduled to take place on Sept. 29.
