Politics

New Sting Video Targets Planned Parenthood

By Anne Landman

The anti-abortion group Live Action is promoting a new video resembling those made by conservative activist James O'Keefe, who gained fame in 2009 for making a video in which he posed as a pimp and, with a woman posing as a prostitute, got an employee of the community group ACORN to give him tax advice. O'Keefe's video  led to the ACORN's downfall before it was revealed as a hoax. In similar fashion, Live Action sent actors to 12 Planned Parenthood clinics in six states where they sought advice on how to obtain medical care for under-age prostitutes. The new video shows a Planned Parenthood employee offering advice on how to obtain the care, with suggestions like hiding the prostitutes' ages. Planned Parenthood subsequently fired the employee. Live Action plans to use the video to discredit Planned Parenthood and try to curtail its funding. The video, filmed at Planned Parenthood's clinic in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, was produced by Lila Rose, who also runs Live Action. Rose worked with O'Keefe on producing undercover videos in Planned Parenthood clinics in the past. O'Keefe is currently serving three years' probation for tampering with telephones in the office of Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America said its Perth Amboy affiliate contacted prosecutors immediately after the "highly unusual" staged visit, which it concluded was a hoax.[Updated 12:23 MST, Feb.3, 2011]

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Full post as published by PR Watch on February 03, 2011 (boomark / email).