Undercover investigation reveals how minors get cross-sex hormones at Planned Parenthood with ease

( Christian Post )

Planned Parenthood employees at over 30 facilities were willing to provide cross-sex hormones to an undercover operative posing as a 16-year-old, and some even offered to prescribe the drugs at the first appointment, according to an investigative report released by a pro-life activist group.

Live Action released the results of its latest undercover investigation in a video posted on its YouTube channel last Wednesday. This investigation comes five years after The Christian Post's undercover investigations into the prevalence of Planned Parenthood clinics dispensing cross-sex hormones to clients.

Lila Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, shared the video in a post on X, writing, “Defund Planned Parenthood now!” 

Live Action, which has previously noted that Planned Parenthood receives roughly $700 million in taxpayer dollars every year, reported on its news site that its undercover journalist had called multiple Planned Parenthood facilities that offer so-called “gender-affirming care” services in Maine, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado and Washington, D.C.

At the start of the video, the undercover operative, who referred to herself as "Sophia," told a Planned Parenthood staffer in Greater New York that she was looking to obtain testosterone to “start [her] journey.” The abortion facility employee did not appear bothered by Sophia’s age and offered to schedule an appointment. 

Other Planned Parenthood employees featured in the video were unconcerned about Sophia’s age, with one staffer at a facility in Mankato, Minnesota, confirming the minor was “good to be seen here then” after the operative said she was 16. 

In response to Sophia expressing discomfort about her mother having to accompany her to the appointment, a Planned Parenthood staffer at the facility in Greater New York replied, “At some point in the appointment, maybe she doesn’t have to be.” 

Multiple Planned Parenthood staffers, including those employed at facilities in Mankato and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, can be heard telling Sophia that she could schedule a virtual appointment to obtain a prescription for cross-sex hormones. 

An employee at Planned Parenthood in Greater New York also informed the undercover investigator that a provider would send the pharmacy a prescription for cross-sex hormones “the same day of [her] appointment.”

Live Action News also reported that five of the facilities highlighted in the investigation told the operative that she didn’t need to provide proof that she had undergone therapy prior to requesting a prescription for cross-sex hormones. Similarly, a staffer at a Planned Parenthood in Little Canada, Minnesota, told Sophia that she isn’t required to present those records unless she has Tricare insurance. 

Planned Parenthood did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. This article will be updated if a response is received. 

As the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood reported in 2022 that 41 out of its 49 affiliates provided “gender transition services,” including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Dr. Joel Lebed, a medical director at Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, described the corporation as “the second largest provider of hormone therapy.” 

In a 2020 interview with CP, a mother recounted how she went undercover after she discovered that her then-18-year-old daughter had obtained a prescription for testosterone from a Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner.

The mom, who lived in Washington state at the time, went to the same Planned Parenthood clinic where her daughter obtained testosterone without staff knowing her medical history, and presented herself as identifying as trans to observe how easy it was to get a prescription for cross-sex hormones. At that facility, the mother said a nurse prescribed her testosterone without testing her hormone levels. She was also prescribed the same dose as her daughter.

"This whole thing is maddening, and I don't know what can be done about it," the mother told CP at the time.

In 2021, an anonymous Planned Parenthood employee spoke out against the organization in an interview with journalist Abigail Shrier. The employee explained that she felt morally conflicted about the high volume of young people coming to Planned Parenthood claiming that they identify as trans, with the staffer noting that these individuals showed signs of emotional and mental health issues. 

The Planned Parenthood employee said that abortions had been the “bread and butter" for clinics. But now, she said, “trans-identifying kids are cash cows, and they are kept on the hook for the foreseeable future in terms of follow-up appointments, bloodwork, meetings, etc., whereas abortions are (hopefully) a one-and-done situation.”

In the 2024 documentary "The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters” released by the Center for Bioethics and Culture title, women who had been previously prescribed cross-sex hormones described how easy they were to obtain at Planned Parenthood. 

Two of the detransitioner women featured in the documentary, Cat Cattinson and Helena Kerschner, sought help at Planned Parenthood during a time in their lives when they thought they wanted to identify as male.

Cattinson claimed that she received hormone injections after a 30-minute phone call with a Planned Parenthood employee. The young woman also received a referral for an elective double mastectomy. She later changed her mind about undergoing the elective mutilation. 

According to Kerschner, the Planned Parenthood she visited gave her quadruple the recommended dose of testosterone after a one-hour appointment. The detransitioner said the Planned Parenthood staff didn't request any bloodwork or medical records before prescribing her testosterone, and all she had to do was pay $200.