Kansas Publishes Child Sex Abuse Stats From Abortion Clinics 12 Years After Law Passed That Mandated Annual Reports
Kansas passed a law in 2011 demanding the Kansas Department for Children and Families (KDCF) produce child sex abuse records from abortion clinics.
KDCF never did it in the past 12 years despite abortion clinics reporting child sex abuse (who knows how many cases went unreported, though!).
The Topeka Capital-Journal found out when it requested the records after reports that a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
Jason Tidd first reported the discovery in August.
Tidd followed up this weekend now that DCF made the reports public:
DCF has since published the required reports online.”DCF has long tracked and publicly reported all child abuse data, including from abortion providers,” said agency spokesperson Mike Deines. “As medical professionals, abortion providers are mandated reporters and have always been required to make these reports. DCF has always acted on these reports, reviewing and referring them to law enforcement as appropriate.”However, it’s important to note that the data represents the raw number of sexual abuse reports the agency receives from abortion providers — which does not necessarily represent actual cases. Between 2017 and 2022, only four of the nearly 140 reports were assigned for either DCF or law enforcement investigation.”—After the Capital-Journal’s initial request under the Kansas Open Records Act, the agency created annual reports covering state fiscal years 2017-22.”The Brownback Administration stopped publishing these reports in 2016,” Deines said in an Aug. 4 email. “It is unclear why. Once we were made aware of this, we updated the requested data from the missing years to ensure that the public record is complete. Additionally, moving forward, we have put in place procedures to ensure that this information is published as required by KSA 65-445(g).”
There is no excuse, Deines. 12 years. Twelve-freaking-years. Gov. Laura Kelly has been in office since 2019, so stop placing all the blame on previous administrations.
The DCF added the records to the website…at the bottom.
The reports showed child sex abuse at abortion clinics has gone up in the past three years. There have already been 56 reported cases in this fiscal year.
I’m going to puke. One victim was three years old. There were also victims aged 8 and 9. How do you not say anything? How do you not make this information public?
Here are the reports from 2017-2022.
The DCF finally published the reports from 2011-2016. That means three previous administrations didn’t create the reports.
Kansas voters recently voted to keep abortion legal in the state. The Value Them Both amendment failed on August 2 by 18 percentage points. A recount in nine counties confirmed the results.
I wonder if the child abuse statistics would have swayed any voters. It deprived the pro-life campaign of ammunition to go up against Planned Parenthood, which gave millions to the pro-abortion side.
Shame on you, Kansas. 12 years.
Will anyone be punished? No, because it’s government. Officials don’t have to pay attention to the laws.
The Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board does not appreciate Kelly’s people trying to deflect blame. They want answers along with the Republicans:
Could the state have done something to prevent some of these unspeakable acts? We will never know, because we were never informed. Our policymakers can’t do anything about these situations if they’re not informed about the issue.Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit, made a wise observation: “Gosh, it makes me wonder what other reports we’re not getting,” she said. “The whole purpose when I pushed for the establishment of this oversight committee was to hear this type of thing.”Let’s hope such information is readily available — and acted upon — in the months and years to come.
Let’s also home the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight receives all the information it needs to do its job:
“Victims do need to be provided additional services,” [state Sen. Molly] Baumgardner said. “And they need to be more than just a number that appears in a report.”Concannon, who chairs the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight, said she had never heard of the report or the requirement for DCF to produce it. She said the committee, which has a meeting next month, should be receiving the report.”Gosh, it makes me wonder what other reports we’re not getting,” she said. “The whole purpose when I pushed for the establishment of this oversight committee was to hear this type of thing. … These are shocking numbers. It absolutely needs to be reported to the Legislature as a whole, but specifically to the oversight committee.”Fellow committee member Baumgardner said the panel should address the report.”We do need to continue to require our agencies to be transparent and forthcoming, rather than us just learning as legislators by an interview request from the media,” she said. “Why is there an increase in the number of children that have been victims of sexual assault, minors, and we don’t know about that? Why has there not been reporting?”
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