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Courtney Orton reporting Planned Parenthood of Idaho is accused of racism after an actor pretending to be a racist donor called the clinic and requested his gift be used specifically to "abort black babies."
Today, Eyewitness News has more on how the Idaho employee responded and what Planned Parenthood of Utah has to say about the call.
The Idaho employee laughed and reportedly said, "Understandable, understandable," when the actor posing as a donor said he wanted to make a donation because "the less black kids out there the better." The call was part of a sting UCLA's student magazine "The Advocate" set up.
In response, Planned Parenthood of Idaho released this statement: "Planned Parenthood adamantly rejects racist policies or practices in the delivery of health care and is a strong advocate for equal access to education and services regardless of circumstances. The statements in the recording absolutely do not represent how we or the employee feel."
Planned Parenthood of Utah agrees and says what happened misrepresents the organization's mission. "I think it's really important for people to really move past the baiting and understand that Planned Parenthood works with the intention of assisting anyone in the community who needs health reproductive services," explained Missy Larsen, of Planned Parenthood of Utah.
Larsen also told Eyewitness News the majority of donations Planned Parenthood of Utah receives go to supplementing the contraceptive and STD services they provide. She said, to her knowledge, the Utah organization was not called by the actor posing as a donor.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
