here is a video circulating the internet right now which is said to be an undercover "investigation" of Planned Parenthood. In this video, the nurse, or RHA, it is not specified, learns that the thirteen year old girl in the office is pregnant by a thirty-one year old man. The nurse/RHA tells the girl that legally she needs to report this to CPS (in Indiana, this is not Chicago Public Schools, but Child Protective Services, the same as DCFS to all my Chicagoans reading along!). She informs the girl this is a crime, but then tells her that she didn't hear it, and basically lets the girl know that she is willing to forget about it. She proceeds to inform the girl that if she wants an abortion, she must have parental consent in the state of Indiana. This is true. Next, and this is the other thing the anti's were upset about, showed the girl a list of places out of state where parental notification is not needed, such as my home state of Illinios.
Now, it's not secret that women often travel for abortion services, as well as maternity services. All aspects of women's health care is underfunded, and many inner-city areas or rural communities must travel hours to access an OB/GYN for prenatal health and birth. So I think the lesson here is more about access to health care than it is an implication of PP. But, to ignore the law, and possibly subject a thirteen year old to repeated coercive sex with a thirty-one year old is wrong. To make it clear that the health care worker understood this as an illegal act but chose to willfully ignore it was dumb. I don't support the acceptance of what is legally defined as rape or child abuse. But you know what? Neither does Planned Parenthood. This one, singular, individual employee of Planned Parenthood Indiana (PPIN), at the Bloomington, IN location, chose her words and actions. To paint one employee's judgment and actions as reflective of the entire national organization is naive at best, and scheming at worst.
I found this video via a conservative Catholic blog. I think those who posted this video and who left comments on it would be offended if I implicated their entire organization, the Roman Catholic Church, based on the actions of specific individual parish priests who chose to rape young children, or, to draw a complete comparison, of bishops who chose to cover it up. That would not be a fair characterization. Not all priests are pedophiles or rapists. Not all PP employees are like this one woman. I used to work for PP, and while I had my differences with the organization, I do believe in the central mission. Speaking as a former PP employee, and as a reproductive health advocate in general, I can understand, while not accept, her actions. Let me explain. Working in a clinic dealing with such sensitive issues is hard. There are more bad days than good. Twelve year olds come in pregnant and are convinced that they can keep their baby. The options counselor and the mother of the 12 year old cannot force her to elect abortion or adoption (legally, I mean. Plenty of women are forced into a myriad of repro options every second).
The options counselor cannot permit any woman to have an abortion until she has fully consented. The same with adoption. So how do you empower and honor the choices of the twelve year old, while also trying to convince her that she cannot be a mother at this point in her life? It's rough. Situations arise that have no answer in a training manual. Of course, the one captured in this video did. But what I can understand that this woman might have felt that this young woman needed to deal with the pregnancy at hand, rather than being made the victim of a rape case. This woman, like many people, may have had questions about consent that she was not allowed to ask the young woman. I don't know. I don't support what she did. But I sort of understand how it might have happened. While I worked for PP, we had several consent/age issues. DCFS was called. This was protocol and it was followed. PP employees are not taught to cover up possible rape or child abuse, just as Catholic bishops aren't. But they do. And I think it's awful---AWFUL--- to characterize an entire organization that tries to do so much good by the actions of one woman in Bloomignton, Indiana. Abortion accounts for less than 2% of Planned Parenthood's sevices. The rest? Low-cost routine gynecology, STD and HIV testing, pregnancy testing, adoption counseling, and family planning services. Contraceptive information. Lobbying for comprehensive sexual health education, which aims at teaching women and men how to contracept, so abortion doesn't become an issue. That is Planned Parenthood, as a full organization. And to characterize all of the hard-working women and men who work towards this goal each day, crossing violent protesters and bomb threats as they try to walk in the door, is sickening.
I don't really care what anyone thinks about abortion. Because this isn't about abortion. It's about representing an organization in the most limited way possible to prove your point. It's ignorning all the good they do and focusing on one person, not even one aspect, of the organization. I have problems, seriously problems, with the Catholic church and it's doctrine that so often affect public policy and health access. It drives me insane. But I know the long history of nuns doing uniquely feminist work and organizing. I know the Catholic Charities does some good work. I get that. And for me to ignore this, the good people and actions of the Church, to propagate a version of the entire Church based solely on the actions of individual people... not right. And niether is this. At all.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Planned Parenthood video.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/10800
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
I also don't condone it, but I can kind of understand where a person might behave that way. I don't know all of it (I am not able to watch the vid right now), but if this girl is choosing b/t her safety/life, perhaps being threatened by having your boyfriend reported to authorities isn't helpful. I fully agree that we should report these things, b/c these children need adult protection, but how many young girls are going to seek help if they think it is going to get someone they care about (no matter how misguided that may be) arrested?
It's good to know that people at PP are trained to follow protocol (not that I had any doubts), but I can think of a dozen or so instances where it might benefit the girl to get her the help she needs now, in a time sensitive and prioritized manner, and try to deal w/ the rape when she isn't freaked out about how to deal w/ this pregnancy. There are just so many ways for this girl's life to be ruined here...
Did that make sense?
I know what you're saying. A lot of good could come from reporting the crime, but a lot of bad can come of it too. What if the guy tried to petition the court to keep the girl from getting an abortion because "it's his kid too"? The pregnancy provides physical evidence of the rape, but having an abortion or deciding to keep the pregnancy shreds the young girl's credibility in the eyes of defense attorneys and possibly the jury. If she had an abortion, any anti-choice jurors might be swayed to rule not guilty, or the defense attorneys would use this to paint this girl as a horrible person with no values. If she decided to keep the pregnancy, people might think, "If you were really raped, you wouldn't want to keep the baby. You must have wanted this child." Putting the girl through more hell by reporting the rape keeps her from getting the care she needs immediately, but the protocol needs to be followed to help the victims and limit liability.
BUT PLANNED BARRENHOOD KILLS BAYBEEZ ALL THEY WANT IS BLOOD MONIEZ AMIRITE???
Seriously, the people who film these videos go in with the intention of 'trapping' a Planned Parenthood employee, then edit the content, take anything that is said vastly out of context, and edit the video to their liking.
To the anti's, Planned Parenthood just wants all the abortion money they can get (even though they are a 501 C3 organization) and they don't care about women.
I don't condone what this employee did by ANY means...she should've followed protocol. It is a difficult situation to be in. However, most PP employees are STRICTLY trained to follow protocol BECAUSE of people like this who go in with the hopes of 'exposing' PP.
It depresses me that PP employees have to watch their every move and word, even if they are following protocol, for fear of being misconstrued and characterized as evil by anti's (even though that happens a lot anyway).
Thank you for this post. I've seen that video and perused several sites trying to derail PP because of it. You have very eloquently summed up my feelings on the issue and I appreciate a perspective from someone who actually worked at a PP.
So we have exactly ... what evidence that this was actually taped in a Planned Parenthood office?
One of my professors last week showed this video and others like it to show how Planned Parenthood was linked to eugenics. It was quite distasetful of her especially in a women's studies class because she ignored all the good that Planned Parenthood did. I knew there was something sneaky behind it but I couldn't criticize it in class because I did not have all the facts.