Lila Rose, the seventeen year old who goes around to Planned Parenthoods trying to get them to do and/or say something illegal, has been dubbed "the new face of the anti-choice movement." Her strategy is to show up at a clinic posing as a minor, and then telling the staff her boyfriend is several years older than her and basically try to get the staff to agree to not report her to the police. Her "evidence" is often muddled video footage that is heavily edited, which to me, makes her pretty sketch, but lots of people seem pretty jazzed about her, so here we are. Of course, the thought that a clinic could be not properly reporting abuse is very concerning and I would definitely want clinics to follow the rules. That said, does anyone find it really disturbing that someone shows up at a clinic and purposely tries to get someone to to break the law? What is edited out of those tapes? What did she say to them to make them finally agree to not report it?
Obviously, if I have to side with anyone I am going to side with clinic, but also there is a lot of footage of people at clinics definitely advising minors on how to avoid being caught by the clinic. I think this is inappropriate and not okay, but at the same time, they are trying to help the patient at the end of the day, and these young girls do need somewhere to go. Further, if Planned Parenthood or wherever is like YES WE WILL REPORT YOU that makes me nervous the creepy older dudes who are sleeping with minors will just take them to a sketchy doctor to get the procedure done which is also bad. Because the problem here is creepy older dudes who like sleeping with minors (CODWLSWM). Not the minor. If we could make CODWLSWMs go away, then we wouldn't have this problem, right? How do we make CODWLSWMs go away?
I am also bothered by much of the footage because the staffer on the phone is obviously having a hard time and isn't quite sure what to say. They are trying to do the best they can and work within the law, giving her the best advice they can. This issue is really tough, obviously, and there are a ton of gray areas where I am not sure what is the "right" thing to do. Blerg.
Think about all kinds of professionals who help people in all kinds of crisis situations: HIV docs who treat sex workers and injection drug users, abortion docs who perform abortions for undocumented folks, and so on. Are these people all supposed to rat out every person who is engaged in questionable/often illegal behavior? HELLZ NO! What would happen if hospitals started turning in "illegal aliens" to immigration officials, or all HIV+ people were sent to jail for drug use or prostitution? Is this supposed to be helping them? I don't think professionals should be obligated to report behavior, particularly if it is not in the best interest of the client. I also think there's a distinct divide between professional service providers and law enforcement, and they shouldn't necessarily be in bed together.
ReplyDeleteI don't think professionals should be obligated to report behavior, particularly if it is not in the best interest of the client.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, but on the other hand, the minor having sex with a CODWLSWM is not the perpetrator! So it's not a perfect parallel. But back to the first hand, yep, sex workers are hella exploited and yet law enforcement does little to stop their exploiters... I do really fear the encouragement of a quack black-market in healthcare when lawmakers want to mandate the use of an axe (police) where a scalpel (confidential counseling, thoughtful needs-assessment, and judicious reporting) is needed.
Where was the prodigal *rose* when my 11 year-old patient was repeatedly raped by her 17 year-old foster brother and harassed by her foster *parents* for leading the CODWLSWM on, when we were trying desperately to file charges and get her out of the home????????????????
ReplyDeleteStupid stupid Anti's. Pure waste of space.