The New Zealand Family planning Association (NZFPA) is a direct affiliate of International Planned Parenthood Federation IPPF. Their large US affiliate, Planned Parenthood organisation is under a major class action law suit. Right To Life- New Zealand believes that if the law suit action may have direct repercussions on the NZFPA. Law suit action by complainants unhappy and hurt by the methods of the Family Planning Association in New Zealand could follow as a result.

"A major class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis against the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood of St. Louis. The suit alleges medical malpractice, wrongful death, civil rights violations, mass fraud, and genocide by specifically targeting minority women for abortions.

The lawsuit centers around two major allegations of systematic "mass fraud" and "genocide." The suit contends that Planned Parenthood has systematically committed fraud by failing to inform women or outright lying to them about the risks, both physical and emotional, associated with having an abortion. Further, the suit also says that Planned Parenthood has, since the organization's inception, been engaged in genocide through the systematic targeting of low-income and minority women for abortions.

The suit reads, "Defendant has a long history, even dating back to its origin and founding, of intentionally targeting and encouraging lower income persons and those of minority races and ethnic groups, to have abortions, sterilization, and to use contraception, in order to lower the populations of said groups. Due to said efforts and intents of Defendant to lower the populations of lower income and minority groups, the populations of the African American, Hispanic, and American Indian peoples have declined sharply over the past three decades. Such acts on the part of Defendant reflect an intent on its part to commit genocide against Plaintiff and other African Americans, persons of lower socioeconomic status, and other minority groups, and to deprive them of their fundamental right to bear children, in violation of 42 USC 981."

It is a well-documented historical fact that Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was an avid promoter and enforcer of the notions of white supremacy and subscribed to Adolph Hitler's philosophy of eugenics -- the science of "improving racial health" by socially engineering human reproduction. Both Hitler and Sanger advocated birth control, sterilization, and segregation of "undesirables" in concentration camps for the "unfit." In Sanger's book, The Pivot of Civilization, she point-blank called for the elimination of "human weeds" and sterilization of "genetically inferior races."

Evidence for Planned Parenthood's systematic targeting of low-income and minority women for abortions can also be found by simply examining the services and statistical information regarding their clientele.

Planned Parenthood may offer some health-related services, such as STD and HIV testing or annual gynecological exams, but when it comes to pregnancy-related health care, there are only two choices which they offer: prevention of conception (birth control) and prevention of birth (abortion). Planned Parenthood is not in the business of helping women prepare for parenthood. In fact, Sanger and her colleagues specifically opposed giving maternal care to poor women and those who she considered genetically inferior.

Examining the statistics regarding Planned Parenthood's clientele further supports the lawsuit's allegation of genocide. According to Planned Parenthood's own statistics, 42.7% of the abortions they perform are on minorities, which is three times more than on whites as a percentage of their respective populations.

In George Grant's book Grand Illusions, Grant quotes from a Department of Health and Human Services report that states that African American women made up 43% and Hispanic women made up 10% of the abortions performed in America. Not counting (only because figures were not made available) Native American, Pacific Islander, and other minority groups who had abortions during the reporting period, that means that at least 53% of the abortions performed were done on minority women, with the largest percentage being done on African Americans. Grant adds more fuel to the fire by observing that abortions outstrip births in most African American communities by 3 to 1. Another indicator is the fact that the overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood's clinics are located in or near minority neighborhoods.

The primary plaintiff in this case is Nicole Smith, an African American resident of Alorton, Illinois, who was 27 years old with three children at the time the events, which gave rise to this complaint, took place.

On October 1, 1999, Smith went to the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, unsure whether or not she wanted to have an abortion. According to Smith, the counselor proceeded to encourage and even pressure her into having an abortion, despite the fact that she was in the second trimester of her pregnancy. Several times during the conversation, Smith mentioned her reluctance to have an abortion and mentioned that she could not afford the $600 fee. The counselor persisted and even offered to lower the price of the abortion from $600 to $400, stating that Planned Parenthood would obtain "different funds" to make up the difference to enable her to have the abortion.

When Smith asked about the health risks related to the abortion, the counselor said she did not know of any such risks and never mentioned any potential emotional harm from having an abortion. Smith was also shown a video about the procedure the clinic planned to perform that made no mention of any of the potential medical complications or emotional side effects from the procedure. Smith then underwent an ultrasound but was not shown the results.

The abortion required a physician with Planned Parenthood to place Laminaria, a chemical suppository that causes dilation, into Smith's cervix so that the abortion procedure could be done the following morning. When this procedure was done, Smith was then told to go home and return the next morning to complete the abortion.

Approximately 4 to 5 hours after the Laminaria were placed inside her; Smith had a change of heart and decided not to go through with the abortion. She then called the clinic to ask that the Laminaria be removed. According to Smith, the staff member at the clinic refused her request and told her to wait until the morning. Knowing that she would be completely dilated by morning and fearing that she would lose her child, Smith went to the emergency room at Belleville Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, and had the Laminaria removed that night. During the initial exam, it was noticed that leakage of fluid from her vagina was occurring, so Smith was admitted to the hospital and given intravenous medication. A sonogram was administered to Smith on October 5, revealing that the child had died in utero. Smith was devastated emotionally from the loss of her child and felt extremely guilty for even beginning the abortion procedure in the first place.

Shortly after her discharge from the hospital on October 11, and subsequent to the death of her child, Smith called the Planned Parenthood clinic to notify them of her illness, her hospital stay, and the death of her child. According to Smith, the nurse who received the call was extremely rude to her when she heard that she had had the Laminaria removed. The nurse then told Smith that she had "set herself up for all kinds of infection," and that she could not have sexual intercourse or take a bath as a result of her having the Laminaria removed. The nurse went on to chastise Smith, telling her that she should have told her counselor that she wanted to keep the baby and stated that she would not tell her anything more about her health and was not going to give her her money back." ( Source: Agape Press; January 22, 2002)

Peter Coleman (Right To Life Committee)
Ken Orr ( Vice President Right To Life)

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