Live Action investigators determined Thursday that the Planned Parenthood staffer who encouraged a young girl to engage in violent sex acts does still work at the clinic, contrary to Planned Parenthood of Indiana CEO Betty Cockrum’s statement Wednesday that she “is no longer employed at PPINK [Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky].”
BREAKING UPDATE IN INDIANA: We’ve called @PPact, and they told us the staffer is still working there. She’s in the office TODAY. #sexed
— Live Action (@LiveActionFilms) June 12, 2014
“This video clearly does not reflect our professional standards or training protocols,” Cockrum’s statement read. “This video does not reflect the work our dedicated employees do every day, nor the experience shared by parents and teens who participate in our programs.”
The undercover video released Wednesday morning showed the staffer suggesting a variety of BDSM acts to an investigator posing as a 15-year-old girl, as well as telling graphic stories about her own sex life and giving porn and sex toy recommendations. By Wednesday evening, Planned Parenthood officials had confirmed the authenticity of the video, condemned its contents, and announced that the staffer was no longer a Planned Parenthood employee.
Live Action investigators called the Indianapolis clinic Thursday afternoon and were able to schedule an appointment with the staffer in the video.
Live Action has said that, contrary to Planned Parenthood’s assertions that the staffer’s behavior is an aberration, they have an entire series of videos depicting similar encounters filmed at clinics throughout the country that they will release over the next few weeks.
Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp called for Planned Parenthood to be defunded over the scandal Thursday morning, saying that “Americans should not be forced to pay for such an irresponsible organization that endorses unsafe and extremely questionable sexual practices for our teens.”
“You’re seeing step one of the Planned Parenthood damage control handbook: the token firing,” said Live Action president Lila Rose prior to the discovery. “It’s always a little strange, because Planned Parenthood tries to have it both ways: they announce terminating the employee for violating ‘professional standards’ but never specify what those standards are.”
In March, the Indiana Commission for Women honored Cockrum with the Torchbearer Award for “overcoming barriers to equality” and “making our state a better place in which to live, work and raise a family.”