Fighting Abortion by Just Means: It’s Right *and* Smart

In one of several “You are an evil idiot for daring to question Live Action’s tactics” comments, this tough-talking reader gives me a dressing down in no uncertain terms for suggesting that there are better ways for Live Action to do its work without lying or tempting anybody to agree to mortal sin:

Good point Mark. Why don’t you go to an Abortion clinic and say: “Hey, let me record on video an actual abortion procedure, you know, the severed heads ans feet, the bloody torsos and limbs, so the women can see what an actual abortion looks like and they can decide freely”. Of course, their answer would be: “By all means Mark. We are in the Truth business. We don’t care about money at all. Our main concern is the woman’s health”

I’m being sarcastic by the way. Your article is dull and weak to say the least.

The clinic workers are not being tempted by LA’s guys. They are doing what they always do: murder. And most important: the Live Action guys are not forcing anyone to do or say anything. As far as I can see,  those “doctors” and workers are more than  happy to share their monstrous activities.

Ending abortion requires EXPOSING it. And the only way to do it is by doing what the Live Action guys are doing. Abortion advocates and abortionists have the upper hand against poorly prepared catholics because abortion is never a “real” thing. The baby is always put aside. No images of the actual horror. We catholics need to stop being afraid of “hurt someone else’s feelings”, that’s the “church of nice” and  the “church of nice” is the real sin here.

Yes.  Well.  Devastating.

Meanwhile, for people capable of doing more than jerking the knee, here’s the thing. Blank denialism notwithstanding, “I want to abort my baby.  Please help me” is indeed both lying and tempting somebody be an accessory to the sin of murder. These things are not merely “not nice”.  They are, according to Holy Church, sins. More than that, they are totally unnecessary (as sin always is) in order to achieve Live Action’s goals. As we discussed yesterday, there is indeed a legitimate place for exposing evil in the prolife struggle–but without lying or tempting people to agree to mortal sin.   The tactic is not only evil in itself, it bears fruit in all sorts of metastasizing evils as defenders of the tactic twist themselves into pretzels to come up with rationalizations for it.  It endangers the souls of conflicted clinic workers.  And worst of all, it’s both unnecessary and counter-productive.  For despite Captain Hammer’s devastatingly sarcastic suggestion, it would be possible for Live Action to achieve essentially the same ends in a way that comports well with the Church’s teaching, and which could actually work to both expose evil *and* work for the redemption of clinic workers rather than simply enticing them to continue more evil for the sake of some good footage.  Here’s how it works:

As I mentioned yesterday, LA is under no obligation to divulge that they are recording conversations.  They are simply under an obligation not to lie or tempt.  So instead of “I’m pregnant and want an abortion.  Please help me get one” they need only say “I’m pregnant.  What services do you offer me?”  and continue from there.  No lie is told (assuming the LA agent is pregnant, of course).  No request for an abortion made.  No sob story calculated to persuade a clinic worker with a troubled conscience that maybe he is doing the right thing after all by resolving to muscle down his qualms and help this woman kill her child.  The conversation can proceed as before, without any lies or temptation happening at all.

Why is this better?  Well, for starters, it does not put pressure on the troubled clinic worker to come through with a commitment to help with an abortion for the sake of some Youtube gold footage.  This woman’s story powerfully shows us why we really need to consider that.  Indeed, such a tactic can actually highlight for the clinic worker that he is the one actively doing evil and not merely passively responding to a sob story.  How?

Well, if Live Action chooses to leave the ball in the clinic’s court, not seeking an abortion but merely asking “What do you offer to do for me?” then it becomes much more clear that Planned Parenthood is the aggressor here if the clinic people start pressuring the Live Action agent to abort in order to “make a sale”.  Then you really do have some devastating footage, and it’s all obtained on the up and up.  It’s not only the right way to do this, it’s the smart way to do it.