In an item on dueling ad buys from Planned Parenthood and the Susan B Anthony List (SBA) on defunding Planned Parenthood, the Washington Post’s Felicia Sonmez presents Live Action’s work as though it were comprised of only one heavily edited videotape. That’s a clear mischaracterization. Given that the whole of Live Action’s work in this regard is directly related to the move to defund, it should be characterized appropriately.
“With America drowning in debt, why is Washington spending millions on Planned Parenthood?” the narrator of the 30-second TV ad backing Buerkle says. “This corporation has shown a willingness to aid sex traffickers, covered-up statutory rape of young girls, and is America’s number on abortion provider. Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle courageously said no to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. Thank you, Congresswoman Buerkle, for standing up for women, young girls, and taxpayers.
The references to “sex traffickers” and statutory rape cover-ups are a nod to a video taped last month as part of an undercover sting by the Los Angeles-based anti-abortion group Live Action. Planned Parenthood has contended that the heavily-edited video, which showed a Planned Parenthood employee counseling a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute, is part of a larger effort to smear the organization because of its role as an abortion provider.
In fact, SBA can reference over a dozen videos released over the past 3.5 years. The video released last month, which led to a Planned Parenthood staffer being fired, is only one of seven recent videos. Furthermore, Live Action insists the video in question was not “heavily edited” and that four of the videos were not edited at all.
The Planned Parenthood employee caught on tape giving inappropriate advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute has been fired, the organization announced Wednesday.