For an interesting look at one of the front-line warriors in the abortion wars, be sure to stop by the L.A. Times for their profile of culture warrior, Lila Rose. (For disclosure’s sake, I’ve had the chance to sit in on a number of interviews between the subject in question and Ed Morrissey during his daily talk show.) While you can find out much more from the linked article and her own web site, the short version runs thusly: Ms. Rose is an anti-abortion crusader who looks much younger than her actual age. She goes with a friend and a hidden camera to Planned Parenthood clinics, pretending to be a 13 or 14 year old girl who is pregnant by an adult male in his 30s, seeking to get the clinic workers on film breaking laws or otherwise steering young girls astray.
After reading quite a bit on the subject and hearing her speak at length on her exploits, I’ve been able to draw some conclusions, but they’re not as cut and dried in either direction as you may think. On the one hand, if these activities are highlighting specific instances of criminal behavior and outrageous offenses, they should be a signal to law enforcement officials to get on the stick and investigate the specific individuals involved. If a clinic employee is telling underage girls to cross state lines with their adult “boyfriends” to get an abortion in direct violation of state law, that needs to be stopped no matter what you may think about the statute in question. The law is the law.
Beyond that, if workers are failing to report to authorities when they discover cases of pedophiles and rapists, the need for attention by the authorities is even more urgent. Yes, I am well aware of the gray lines involved here which we usually seek to address through “Romeo and Juliet” laws. I’m not saying that the police need to be chasing down 17 year old boys when their 16 year old girlfriend winds up “in a family way” unexpectedly. But when a 13 year old girl has been impregnated by a man in his thirties, there is no gray line. The guy belongs in jail if not at the business end of a noose, and the cops need to be on the job instantly.
Before we begin lionizing Ms. Rose too much, however, we should keep in mind that there are most definitely two sides to this story. Don’t be confused for a moment into thinking that there is any sort of noble search for truth going on here if the results don’t deliver political pay dirt for one clearly identified side of the ideological wars. Lila isn’t seeking to identify and prosecute individual bad actors at women’s health clinics. With the failure by social conservatives to criminalize abortion across the nation, she is looking to undermine abortion – and Planned Parenthood as one of its most visible practioners – using whatever guerilla tactics are required.
Her films are posted in short hits to YouTube after having definitely been edited to portray the clinics in the absolute worst light possible. She claims that full length versions are available on her web site. (They are, but only if you want to install a totally different video player and sit through some very hinkey loading issues.) Even then, the videos have some very choppy jump cuts that make it look like other things have been left out. The L.A. Times article sites just one instance where footage of clinic workers protesting that they weren’t allowed to break the law in that way seems to have found its way to the cutting room floor before the YouTube debut.
Also, I have to wonder where the videos are of the other clinics they visited but which failed to produce any Made-For-Fox footage? During one interview, Lila claimed that there were none, but that requires us to believe that such horror shows are going on in the check-in areas of every single women’s health clinic in the country. Color me dubious.
In some of these instances I can also feel some empathy for the workers at the PP clinics. If a young woman facing this sort of trouble shows up and the first thing she hears is, “That’s not allowed in this state, young lady. Get in the car. We’re taking you to your parents right this minute.” well… you might not get much word-of-mouth business. Likewise, if the very first reaction is for the worker to call the police and demand the girl assist in the arrest of her boyfriend, girls aren’t going to be seeking help there.
None of this excuses the failure to report pedophiles and child rapists, but the clinic employees doubtless have the care and support of the girls in mind first and other associated crimes, laws, etc. second. I don’t envy them that situation of having to deal with and find ways to help young girls in such positions.
At any rate, I leave it to you to be the judge. Are Ms. Rose’s activities legitimate and helpful to our society? Are they immediately sullied by the fact that she is, indeed, lying and perpetrating a fraud each time she enters a clinic on one of these undercover missions? Is there an endemic problem with Planned Parenthood and a failure to respect duly passed laws? Let us know.