Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Activist and muckraker Lila Rose has single-handedly helped gain national exposure for the glaring problem of the abortion industry covering up cases of sexual abuse of minors by encouraging them to get abortions. largely silent in response, one pro-abortion activists suggests her colleagues wake up.
Rose has taken it upon herself to go to abortion centers in states such as Arizona, Indiana and Tennessee and to find out what they would say to an underage woman who allegedly is a victim of statutory rape by a much-older boyfriend.
The results have shocked even veteran pro-life advocates with the emotionless ways in which Planned Parenthood staff members go out of their way to not report the sexual abuse to authorities. They even go further by encouraging Rose to hide the identify of her boyfriend from a state judge so she can avoid the state's parental involvement laws and have a secret abortion without her parents knowing.
The nationally-recognized pro-abortion groups like NARAL and Emily's List have ignores the videos and Planned Parenthood's response has mostly been to minimize their content, promise to do better, and to guard their taxpayer funding.
Mandy Van Deven, a writer at the pro-abortion blog RH Reality Check, says this response is problematic and that the pro-abortion movement will be found by the public to be guilty of an avoidance group-think if it fails to respond more appropriately.
Van Deven doesn't have much regard for Rose and her undercover "Dateline NBC"-style activism, but she acknowledges that they are effective.
"Though those methods raise many worthwhile ethical questions, few would have batted an eye had she not captured a handful of questionable encounters with Planned Parenthood staff," she writes, saying Rose's efforts are "damning" for her side of the abortion debate.
Van Deven plays down Rose's videotapes, saying most of the exchanges with Planned Parenthood staff show no problems and questioning whether the problems Rose found were isolated incidents or a larger issue of abuse.
"Even so, despite not being illegal, the employees' actions are ethically questionable," she admits, going on to say she "found myself nodding in agreement with Rose about elements of her argument."
Van Deven notes that Rose has turned the tables on the pro-abortion movement by framing the pro-life response in a way that makes the allegedly pro-women Planned Parenthood and "pro-choice" movement look anti-woman.
By pointing out how Planned Parenthood staff essentially overlook statutory rape, Rose demonstrates how the abortion business appears to put abortion profits over the care of women.
Or, as Van Deven says, "Rose's use of feminist and anti-racist language ... was not a temporary lapse. Lila Rose is using a tactic that has been utilized by anti-abortion activists to combat global reproductive health services for the past 30 years [by taking pro-abortion arguments] in order to use it against them."
Next comes the admonition for the pro-abortion movement.
"So far the Left has been largely silent about Rose's activities -- a mistaken underestimation of the power of media and the ability of the Right to shape the debate by putting the pro-choice community in a weaker, defensive position," she laments.
"It is difficult to debunk a story that has surged unchecked throughout the blogosphere and appeared on credible media outlets; but more than that, if established, it will be nearly impossible to unravel a pro-life discourse that removes the Left's claim on fighting racism and sexism within reproductive health," Van Deven adds.
"Feminists and health advocates need to respond publicly to Rose's dubious assertions that Planned Parenthood is a nefarious organization that facilitates sexual abuse and racial genocide," she concludes. "It's time for the Left to start talking about these videos and these tactics."
In other words, if abortion advocates follow through on Van Deven's suggestion, Rose and the pro-life community can look for a heightened response the next time new video footage is released.
Possible responses according to Van Deven? Accusing pro-life advocates of promoting violence and looking out for Planned Parenthood's bottom line.
Pointing out how "what Rose is doing may put clinic staff in danger, as some of the information made public in her videos could be used for perilous purposes" -- such as supposedly attacking abortion practitioners.
"They need to talk about all of the women and people of color who are employed by Planned Parenthood who are at risk of losing their jobs if the organization loses funding," she adds.
Those action items do nothing to solve, or even address, the abortion-sexual abuse coverup.
