Printed in the Bloomington Herald-Times, June 18, 2015

To the Editor:

Is the Bloomington City Council using tax dollars to help cover up the felony sexual abuse of underage girls?

The age of consent in the state of Indiana, per IC 35-42-4-9, is 16 years old. But the Bloomington City Council is giving $5,000 to Planned Parenthood to distribute birth control to 15 year old girls, even though sexual misconduct with a minor is a felony under Indiana law.

Let's be honest here. A pregnancy in a 15 year old girl is prima facie evidence that a felony may have taken place, and giving birth control to a 15 year old girl may help a sex criminal cover up felony sexual abuse.

There are some "defenses" in the code, including a "Romeo and Juliet" exception in the code for minors under the age of 18. But will Planned Parenthood be checking to make sure that a 15 year old girl seeking birth control is not the victim of felony sexual misconduct? If they discover a crime has been committed will they be reporting that crime? Most importantly, will the city council demand those crimes be reported?

This is a terrible abuse of tax money that may enable victimization of young girls.