Vigil for Life Series Part 3: Wisconsin law protects perpetrators of sex crimes

Vigil for Life - Madison

In part two of our three-part series on Vigil for Life of Madison, I wrote about how last week I was blessed to sidewalk counsel a woman into leaving Planned Parenthood. Read on for the third and final installment of this series.

After the Lord blessed me with the grace to re-direct a woman from Planned Parenthood to the Women's Care Center, I thought I had my dose of excitement for the day. But I still had a second hour-long shift ahead of me. It turns out the excitement was far from over.

A young woman and man parked on the far side of the Planed Parenthood parking lot and headed for the door. Again, I called out to them, suggesting a second opinion across the street.

"Don't worry. We're not here for nothing bad," the young man said.

My prayer partner and I looked at each other, wondering aloud what he meant. After they arrived, the girl stayed inside Planned Parenthood, but the guy repeatedly went from the building to his car and back. It's well-known that men get restless inside abortion facilities and often leave to smoke or to sit in their car, but this guy was setting records with his in-and-out routine.

As my shift drew to a close, he got in his car to leave--without the girl. He beckoned me over to the space where the sidewalk meets the driveway.

"Hey, sorry I blew you off before," he said. "But my friend said, 'Please, don't make this any harder than it already is.'"

He explained that he doesn't support abortion, but the girl asked him for a ride so he gave it to her.

"Is she going to have an abortion?" I asked.

"I think so. She doesn't want to have an abortion, and neither does her boyfriend. But she's 16, and he's 19 so if she has the baby, he'll go to jail."

Gulp.

This was a scenario you don't find in many sidewalk counselor training workshops. I kept talking with the young man, who said he believed that she wasn't having the abortion that day--just the pre-surgery counseling appointment. I reinforced that the most important thing he can do for his friend is to encourage his friend--whose name is Louise--to seek a second opinion at the Women's Care Center and that the counselors there would be able to help deal with the legal ramifications of her boyfriend being older. He said he'd do his best, took a flier from me and vowed to text her about pursuing an alternative to abortion. I shook his hand and he left. Louise remained inside Planned Parenthood.

Knowing that sexual intercourse with a child--even one who is 16 years old--is a crime, I immediately got on the phone to find out whether we had any legal recourse to prevent this abortion from taking place. I learned that in many locations, anybody who finds out about sexual abuse of a minor is legally bound to report it, and I was advised to call the police.

Over the last couple of years Live Action famously exposed abortion facilities for failing to report statutory rape, and I hoped that if the police knew that Planned Parenthood was doing the same that law enforcement might intervene and stop the abortion. If the abortion center got busted for covering up sexual abuse, all the better!

As I dialed, I was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that I wrote out a script of what to say to the officer with whom I spoke. Then I dialed the Madison Police Department non-emergency number.

"Are you a mandatory reporter?" I was asked.

"I have no idea. But I became aware of a sexual assault of a minor and was advised to report it."

The staff person who took my call informed me that she could inform an officer about my call, but there probably wasn't enough information or evidence to act on it. She also explained that Planned Parenthood is, in fact, not a mandatory reporter in Wisconsin. While the abortion industry had received a black eye for covering up sexual assault (and even trafficking) of minors in state after state, Wisconsin offers a free pass.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I got online and researched the statutes myself. Sure enough:

(2m) Exception to reporting requirement; health care services.

48.981(2m)(a)(a) The purpose of this subsection is to allow children to obtain confidential health care services.

48.981(2m)(b) (b) In this subsection:

48.981(2m)(b)1. 1. "Health care provider" means a physician, as defined under s. 448.01 (5), a physician assistant, as defined under s. 448.01 (6), or a nurse holding a certificate of registration under s. 441.06 (1) or a license under s. 441.10 (3).

48.981(2m)(b)2. 2. "Health care service" means family planning services, as defined in s. 253.07 (1) (b), 1995 stats., pregnancy testing, obstetrical health care or screening, diagnosis and treatment for a sexually transmitted disease.

48.981(2m)(c) (c) Except as provided under pars. (d) and (e), the following persons are not required to report as suspected or threatened abuse, as defined in s. 48.02 (1) (b), sexual intercourse or sexual contact involving a child:

48.981(2m)(c)1. 1. A health care provider who provides any health care service to a child.

48.981(2m)(c)4. 4. A person who obtains information about a child who is receiving or has received health care services from a health care provider.

Wisconsin law allows Planned Parenthood to not only look the other way when children are sexually abused, but to profit off it as well.

There is some good news. I spoke Wednesday night with Wisconsin State Rep. Andre Jacque from the Green Bay area. He's working on fixing this mandatory reporting loophole to force Planned Parenthood and other abortion and contraception providers to report the abuse of children.

Stay tuned. As this develops, we'll let you know so you can encourage your representatives to support Rep. Jacque's initiative.