Answering Anonymous

Last Thursday, I wrote a post asking feminists where there outrage is against Planned Parenthood.  (I am still looking for it, btw.)  At that time, five videos had been released showing the willingness of PP employees to aid and abet in the abuse of minor children.

This whole thing is so distressing to me not in small part because I am the mother of a 14 year old girl, the age that the pimp and prostitute in the videos were “managing.”   I keep imagining my own sweet girl’s being stolen from her family, locked in a house, and forced to do disgusting, painful, and awful things just to stay alive.  I can imagine her unable to leave her prison except to go to the doctor for the abortion her “managers” force upon her.  I can see her in the cold and unwelcoming clinics in these films, facing the militant and angry women who don’t even want to help her, but further brutalize her before sending her back to hell.  I have a daughter the age of the girls they are willing to help abuse.  A girl the age of the children they are unwilling to help and I find it to be deeply and profoundly upsetting.

That is the source of my angst.  We are not talking about fictional people to me.  We are discussing some other woman’s child, her beloved baby…..and no one is coming to save that child.  She cries for help and the very people who are legally required to help her and be the key to her rescue are perpetuating the abuse.  If you wondered about the source of my passion, there it is.

In the comments of that post (I do have a point here, I promise), Anonymous left a comment that read:

Hey! Where’s your outrage about Fr. Euteneuer? Seems like there’s always a sex scandal lurking around the corner these days…..

February 3, 2011 9:56 PM

My dear Anonymous, may I call you Anonymous?, there are several reasons for my previous silence about the issues surrounding Fr Euteneuer.  The first, and most relevant, is that I don’t watch television and had not heard of it until you brought it to my attention, so thank you for bringing it to my attention.

By the time I began researching the issue, several things had happened:

1. Fr Euteneuer had publicly acknowledged guilt.
2. He had publicly apologized.
3. He had resigned his position.
4. He had been dealt with by his superiors.

Seeing as he had already copped to it, been punished, and resigned.  I don’t know what more I can do.  Am I upset that he abused his position of authority and behaved inappropriately with an adult woman?  Yes.  I will say it here, I am upset that a priest would use the trust of his office to behave in such a manner.   Other than that, I can’t ask for more than has already been done.  I did unfriend him on Facebook, but I doubt he even noticed.  I will continue to pray for him and for the woman involved in this scandal.

I would like to point out that what Fr Euteneuer has admitted to doing, while a scandal within the Church, is perfectly legal within the United States.  There is no law prohibiting contact between an adult man and an adult woman.  While there is Church law prohibiting such contact, it is legal.  If you are not Catholic, the behavior of Fr Euteneuer should be of little concern.  It is a scandal involving his vow of celibacy.  He had what appears to be an emotional affair, but not a physical one, with one consenting adult woman. While it is regrettable, it is far from similar in any way with the aiding and abetting of child abuse which was seen to be going on in Planned Parenhood’s clinics. It is an odd comparison to make, wouldn’t you agree?

Which places the ball back in your court, Anonymous.  What Planned Parenthood has done is well outside of legal activity in the United States of America.  They have broken both state and federal laws.  Unlike Fr Euteneuer, their behavior is criminal as well as immoral.  To further compound their problems, Planned Parenthood has done none of the things in their scandal that Fr Euteneuer has done in his.

1. They have not acknowledged guilt, instead they have tried to blame Lila Rose for making them look bad.
2. They have not publicly apologized, instead they have stood by their position.
3. There have been no resignations of leadership.  They fired the office manager in the New Jersey clinic for following what appears to be their procedure, but none of the other employees involved in the 7 videos have been, to the public’s knowledge, reprimanded at all.  And they should be publicly reprimanded and/or fired for this.
4. Planned Parenthood has not been dealt with by their superiors, neither their own hierarchy nor the politicians who fund them.

So I’ll ask you again, Anonymous, where is your outrage?  Where are your calls for heads to roll? Where are your demands for investigations, both internal and legal?  Where are your cries in defense of little girls? I’m still waiting for those who claim to be interested in the health and safety of women to speak out in favor of them.

All over this country, there are girls the age of my daughter who are trapped in the horror of sex slavery and trafficking.  They are waiting for someone to speak out for them and to come and save them.  The pro-life community is screaming for help for these girls.  Why aren’t you?