A conservative legal firm filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies on Wednesday on behalf of Colorado Family Action, a religious advocacy group, alleging that a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic failed to learn of and report the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl, and performed an abortion in 2012 without notifying her parent.
The complaint filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom alleges that the teen was sexually abused by her stepfather, who raped her and brought her to the Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood clinic for an abortion — the same clinic that is the focus of a fourth undercover video that allegedly shows a doctor discussing the sale of fetal parts.
The girl, known in court documents as "R.Z.," was then reportedly returned to her stepfather's custody and the molestation is said to have continued. After learning of the purported year's long abuse, the teen's mother, Cary Smith, later filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court against the Planned Parenthood clinic over its alleged failure to report the abuse as well as the abortion that took place on May 2, 2012.
At the center of the lawsuit and complaint was the idea that the young girl was allegedly not counseled about her pregnancy, nor was the mother notified that the procedure would be conducted, according to a 2014 Washington Times report.
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"According to court documents, no Planned Parenthood employee inquired into the nature of the girl’s relationship with the predator or about potential abuse even though she is a minor," read a statement from the Alliance Defending Freedom. "The step-father has since been convicted and incarcerated for his crimes."
Natalie Decker, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, explained that Colorado law "mandates the reporting of known or suspected abuse of minors," hitting back at the Planned Parenthood clinic for failing to do so.
"Tragically, had any of their employees made a call to authorities the day they saw this 13-year-old girl with her abuser, as Planned Parenthood is legally obligated to do, her abuse would have ended that day," she said in a statement. "Colorado law further requires that written notice be provided to parents of a minor before any abortion is performed, yet in this instance, the child’s mother was unaware of the abortion until more than two months after it had occurred."
R.Z. was also reportedly given a birth control injection during her visit for the abortion, which attorneys said allowed for the abuse to continue until the teen later told her mother what had unfolded; Smith promptly sought medical attention for her daughter and took legal action.
While initial court documents referenced four unnamed staff members at the clinic as "Jane Does 1-4," the most recent complaint to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies references an abortion doctor as well as one other staffer. It appears aimed at encouraging the state to investigate the clinic over the incident.
Smith's lawsuit against Planned Parenthood was recently settled, though the terms are not immediately known. Request for comment from the Alliance Defending Freedom about the terms of that settlement has not yet been returned to TheBlaze.
The clinic at the center of this dispute has been in the headlines this week. As previously reported, footage that was captured by the Center for Medical Progress on April 7, 2015, focuses on Dr. Savita Ginde, vice-president and medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, allegedly discussing payment per organ that is extracted from aborted fetuses.
Ginde, who was also briefly featured in the third video, is seen sitting down with two actors who posed as tissue buyers before taking them into a pathological laboratory, where she is seen sifting through aborted fetal organs and parts to presumably show the buyers what’s available.
Watch the video below (caution: graphic):
“Oh, look, here’s some organs for you. They’re all attached. Here’s a stomach, heart, kidney, adrenal,” Ginde says in the footage, while parsing through the fetal remains. “I don’t know what else is in there.”
A medical assistant adds, “I don’t see the legs. Did you see any legs?”
