Anti-abortion group targets NYC clinic in video

[February 08, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A California-based anti-abortion group that has been targeting abortion provider Planned Parenthood released a videotape Tuesday that the group says shows an employee at a New York City clinic giving advice to a man posing as a pimp and seeking health services for underage sex workers.

Planned Parenthood of New York City said the videotape does not accurately portray the agency's practices.

Live Action, based in San Jose, Calif., claims the video demonstrates that a clinic employee was willing to help someone sexually exploit minors by doling out advice on testing for sexually transmitted diseases and abortions.

"This footage shows that underage girls and young women are at potentially grave risk when they walk into Planned Parenthood clinics," Lila Rose, president of Live Action, said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood disputes that.

"Had the teens in question come into our center, they would have met with a licensed social worker," the New York affiliate said in a statement. "All teens coming into Planned Parenthood of New York City are screened for child abuse and neglect."

Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., which has offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., said last week that at least 12 of its clinics across the country have been visited by men claiming to be sex-traffickers. The organization, which is the leading U.S. provider of abortions, has asked federal authorities to investigate and said it has identified a man involved in the visits as linked to Live Action.

Planned Parenthood said Monday it will retrain employees who deal with patients on how to report potential risks to minors.

Last week, Live Action released videotapes showing footage of staff at Planned Parenthood clinics in New Jersey and Virginia engaged in similar encounters with individuals claiming to be sex-traffickers.

The New Jersey attorney general's office said it was looking into the claims. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he found a clip from a video of a Richmond clinic to be "very disturbing."

A spokesman for New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman did not immediately comment on the New York video.

[Associated Press; By CRISTIAN SALAZAR]

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