The anti-abortion group LiveAction released a third undercover video today targeting Planned Parenthood in a James O’Keefe-style sting, which LiveAction says shows an employee in a clinic in the Bronx describing to a pimp and prostitute how to get taxpayer funded insurance for underage sex workers.
The video was posted by Lila Rose, an associate of James O’Keefe, on the Big Government site. This is the third video put out by LiveAction as a part of its ongoing crusade against Planned Parenthood, which has included eight visits to Planned Parenthood clinics in several states last month. Rose says its proof of Planned Parenthood’s repeated cover-up of sexual abuse. Planned Parenthood strongly denies LiveAction’s claims and says the video is “doctored.”
In this video, two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute, who LiveAction refers to as “undercover investigators,” question a Planned Parenthood staffer and clinical supervisor, and seemingly tell them that they’re involved in sex work with underage girls as young as “fourteen and fifteen.” The staffer answers questions and explains how to get insurance if they are uninsured. The same thing happens when they speak with the clinical supervisor.
Like the other videos released thus far, the pimp and prostitute are not shown, and there are several cuts throughout the video.
As Rachel Slajda reported, several clinics reported the incidents to local law enforcement, and the organization asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the potential that the visitors were running a sex trafficking ring, though the group acknowledged that it was probably a part of a LiveAction hoax.
Stuart Schear, Vice President for Communications for Planned Parenthood, put out a statement today in response to this latest video, calling the video “dishonest” and saying “it is clear that the video cannot be trusted. The conversation as portrayed on this doctored videotape is not accurate.” The group also says that when interviewed by the FBI, the two staffers said they did not hear either of the actors say “sex work” or “sex workers.”
Watch the video:
Schear’s statement also points out that “unlike other publicized tapes, the hoax ‘patients’ in New York were not able to get beyond the reception desk for a private consultation. Like other encounters that have been recently publicized in Virginia, our staff responded professionally to questions, discussed these encounters with management, and provided a report to the FBI,” the statement says.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Planned Parenthood says it will retrain its employees on rules about reporting potential crimes against minors, and it will fire violators.
One employee in New Jersey was fired last week after a LiveAction video showed her advising the fake pimp and prostitute to have the underage girls lie about their age.
