In Connecticut early this year, while the priest sex scandals were breaking in the press, another underage sex scandal made headlines. In Bridgeport, a 75-year-old man was charged with sexual assault after he allegedly impregnated a 10-year-old girl. It turned out two doctors who had examined the girl did not report her condition, which eventually led to the arrest of both physicians.

It was against this explosive backdrop that Life Dynamics sent 19 tapes of phone calls to the local Fox News affiliate in Hartford, WTIC-TV, Channel 61. Life Dynamics refused to release the tapes to Salon. Fox provided transcripts of its newscast quoting the tapes.

Although news director Paul Lewis said he was initially dubious about the source of the story, he ultimately ended up running a piece based on the tapes. "This is not a story about abortion. This is a story about mandatory reporters, and regardless of anyone's feelings about abortion rights, the tests done by Life Dynamics reveal some troubling holes in the mandatory reporting system," said Lewis.

The controversy caused by the May 22 Fox story prompted the Connecticut Office of the Chief State's Attorney to launch a criminal investigation. Under Connecticut's mandatory reporting law, doctors, nurses, police officers, clergymen, teachers and many other caregivers are required to file a report when they suspect child abuse or neglect, which includes sexual "molestation or exploitation."

But the investigation based on the Life Dynamics tapes resulted in no charges or arrests. According Judith Rossi, executive assistant state's attorney in Connecticut, the investigation ended when "we determined that we could not ascertain the identification of people on the tapes. We concluded that we would not be bringing any charges."

There were a couple of other sticky problems with bringing a case: Receptionists are not mandated reporters in Connecticut. There was no pregnant 13-year-old.

"There was no child, there was no victim, there was no mandated reporter identified," said Rossi.

Declining to press charges, Connecticut Chief State's Attorney John M. Bailey settled for a meeting with local Planned Parenthood officials to review their policies regarding mandatory reporting laws.

Under Connecticut law, "intercourse" is on a list of eight possible signs of sex abuse. Does that mean authorities should be notified if an underage girl has had sex? State officials concede that the law is vague and it's up to legislators to clear up confusion.

In the meantime, Bailey said Planned Parenthood staffers are required to inform authorities if a child impregnated by an adult comes to a clinic for treatment. Under Connecticut statutory rape laws, an adult in such a case can be charged with second-degree sexual assault, a class C felony.

"Here in Connecticut our statutory rape law is somewhat out of sync with the rest of the country," said Susan Yolen, vice president of public affairs and communications for Planned Parenthood of Connecticut. "In most states, there has to be between a four- and five-year age difference to assume that the young person is being preyed on. In Connecticut, the statute is two years."

So, are clinicians required to ask underage girls the age of their sexual partners to enforce statutory rape laws?

"That is definitely not stated in our statutes," said Yolen. "We are healthcare professionals, not investigators. We need to make sure that kids aren't afraid to go get the services they need, balancing that with our concern about kids who might be at risk."

The irony is that it's Life Dynamics, not Planned Parenthood, that may have broken Connecticut law. While in Texas it's legal to tape record a phone conversation without informing the other party, Connecticut requires full disclosure before recording. Does Life Dynamics have a Linda Tripp problem in the way it conducted its sting?

A Connecticut state's attorney says it would be up to a court to determine which law would apply in this case -- Connecticut or Texas -- but it's not the criminal justice system's problem, since any litigation related to such a call would be a civil, not a criminal, matter.

While no suits have been filed, Saporta, the NAF president, says she's considering taking legal action against Life Dynamics: "It may make sense to see if there's any appropriate litigation that could be brought for the way that Life Dynamics conducted the survey, and the laws it broke in the process."

Ultimately, Life Dynamics' "sting" proved little or nothing about how abortion providers deal with young clients.

Thirteen-year-olds do not call up abortion clinics to request services, much less ask questions about what will happen to their sexual partner if they come in, according to Evans. When girls this age seek abortions, in virtually every case, they approach the clinic through a parent, aunt, grandmother or foster parent, he says.

So, "What will happen to my 22-year-old boyfriend?" isn't in the receptionist's training manual. "The job of a receptionist is not to be an inquisitor for the purpose of making reports," says Evans. "The job of the receptionist is to be inviting. 'Come see somebody. We'll try to help you.'" Clinicians only start asking probing questions about a sexual partner's age when they have reason to suspect abuse -- if a pregnant patient is particularly young, for example, said Yolen.

The damaging sting likely won't be the last time abortion providers will be shaken by Life Dynamics' tactics. The organization has proven to be a shrewd manipulator of law and public perception and government officials' sensitivity to the media.

Frederick Clarkson, author of "Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy," says groups like Life Dynamics shrewdly use the media to incite public outrage to get the government working for their cause. An investigation launched by an attorney general's office "plays right into their hands," says Clarkson.

"The purpose of Life Dynamics' campaign was to cast suspicion on Planned Parenthood, and it succeeded, and it may well have violated state and federal laws to do it," he said. "The state attorney general investigated the victim -- just like Life Dynamics hoped they would."

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