The connection between human trafficking and forced abortion is well known. Studies indicate that 55% of human trafficking victims undergo forced abortion. The disturbing reality is that these forced abortions do not take place with so-called “back-alley” abortionists. These crimes against enslaved women take place in mainstream abortion mills across our country.
Recently, a former Planned Parenthood manager shared her haunting memories of meeting a young woman she now realizes may have been a victim of human trafficking. Former Planned Parenthood manager, Ramona Trevino, is now an outspoken Pro-Life advocate and has shared extensively about the inhumane business practices of America’s largest abortion chain that she witnessed during her time at Planned Parenthood. In her recent article for Live Action, Trevino reveals the ways that Planned Parenthood aids sex traffickers and harms the victim of this violent crime.
Trevino shares the story of a man calling Planned Parenthood to make an appointment for his 15-year-old daughter. The man claimed that his underage daughter had contracted herpes the first time she had sex. He asked the Planned Parenthood employees many questions over the phone to ensure that the girl’s mother would not be notified about the visit. Trevino saw the girl in the clinic and is haunted by the memory. She writes, “This young girl was in so much pain that she couldn’t even sit down. She winced as she struggled to sit in one of the lobby chairs. After paperwork was filled out, we called her back into the exam room where she was tested, treated, and sent on her way with some form of birth control.”
The Planned Parenthood workers did nothing to verify that the man bringing the girl to the clinic was in fact her father, they did not ask the girl if she needed help, and the abortion workers ignored the possibility that this girl might have been a victim of human trafficking. Trevino says, “There are no regulations put in place to safeguard against potential abuse or sex trafficking at Planned Parenthood — at least not while I worked there. We didn’t ask for identification, and it was as if there was a sort of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ type of mentality. That attitude was prevalent. It shames me to say I was guilty of having the same attitude.”
Even more troubling than Trevino’s story are the documented cases in which abortion workers not only ignore and fail to report blatant instances of sex trafficking, they actively aided the perpetrators. Planned Parenthood employees, for example, were caught advising undercover investigators posing as pimps about how to avoid suspicion. The shocking behavior, including telling sex slaves who are minors to lie about their age in order to avoid mandatory reporting requirements, led to the firing of the Planned Parenthood employees caught on tape, but there is no way of knowing how prevalent such criminal behavior is in the abortion industry.
Offering help to victims of human trafficking in a crisis pregnancy can mean the difference between life and death, not just for the preborn baby but also for her mother. For Sam, the possibility of a forced abortion gave her the courage to escape human trafficking. She had not been able to defend herself against the pimps who held her captive, but when she knew she carried a preborn baby she found the strength to try to escape. Once she escaped, Sam discovered she had not one baby but three, and she gave birth to triplets whom she placed with an adoptive family. If Sam had not been able to escape and she was taken to Planned Parenthood for a forced abortion, would anyone have noticed?