Planned Parenthood exploits rape survivors’ stories in effort to decriminalize abortion in Ecuador

Planned Parenthood has, for quite some time, been aggressively agitating for abortion in Latin America. Not satisfied with mere decriminalization, the abortion profiteer has also pushed for an increase in the number of abortions in areas where it is already legal. It has been instrumental in doubling the number of chemical abortions (the abortion pill) in Guyana, for example, and provided funding to a company testing the efficacy of the abortion pill in the second trimester in Colombia — the obvious goal being an expansion of abortion by making it more convenient at later stages of development.

Where abortion is prohibited, Planned Parenthood has employed every tool at its disposal to catalyze the overturning of those laws — the corporation tried its best to muscle its way into Guatemala, and has partnered with local agencies in both Nicaragua and Peru to launch deceptive public relations campaigns designed to win citizens over to its cause by playing on their emotions.

In Ecuador, Planned Parenthood has employed the same psychologically manipulative strategy, but has upped the ante by partnering with the private advertising agency La Incre to create technology that polishes that strategy with a slick, cutting-edge veneer. La Incre has developed a virtual reality platform designed to sway viewers’ opinions on decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape, a measure which has been periodically considered and rejected by the Ecuadoran National Assembly.

Planned Parenthood Global recently showcased this technology at the 65th annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in a virtual event entitled, “Are we ready for the digital Revolution in SRHR [Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights]?” A recording of the event is viewable online.

“… The campaign ‘Glasses to see reality’ [‘Gafas para ver la realidad’] … aims to make visible a situation that happens with chilling frequency in Ecuador, in the context of the debate on the decriminalization of abortion in the event of rape,” La Incre’s website states. To that end, the viewer stands in the middle of a circle of 10 women, five of whom step forward, one by one, to retell “their” stories of being raped and impregnated at a young age (the video reproduction of the VR experience can be seen here).

Gafas para ver la realidad

One gives birth after incest; one has an illegal abortion, from which she gets an infection and dies; one has a “safe” abortion — and, predictably, has a happy ending; one, who is developmentally disabled, tries to get an abortion (it is legal in this circumstance), but no hospital will agree to perform it; the final woman has her baby, but because she is over 18, she no longer qualifies for the support of the foster home where she had been living. She laments, “What kind of life am I going to give my baby?”

Only at the end of the narratives is it revealed that the women are actresses, and the stories are not their own. 

And actually, one has to wonder whether the stories told in “Gafas” are completely fabricated or at least embellished. After all, Planned Parenthood has a track record of deception in El Salvador, where it has worked to free women convicted of savagely murdering their newborns by helping to spread the false narrative that these women experienced “miscarriages” and “stillbirths” and were thus wrongfully incarcerated.

This suspicion of fabricated stories is not allayed by La Incre’s description of its methodology for compiling the narratives:

… We started an investigation process that led us to collect the stories of several girls who were victims of rape. The interviews were never conducted directly with the girls, so as not to re-victimize them, but we spoke with the professionals in charge of the reception centers. From these interviews we get more than 4 hours of dialogue that we later transcribe and adapt to scriptable stories.

So these are, at best, “adapted” versions of second-hand anecdotes. The original narrative passed through at least two outside, uninvolved parties before it was then acted out by a third. 

Those who played ‘the Telephone Game’ as children will recall that the original message almost never manages to make it through multiple retellings without major alterations. Given that at least one of the parties involved in composing these narratives has a very specific agenda (and the agency signing that person’s paycheck has the same agenda), one can only conclude that this agenda had a role in shaping the narratives themselves — especially given the fact that the girls who allegedly had these experiences in the first place had no oversight role. 

Planned Parenthood’s track record of lies and the design of the project make the project itself highly suspect. In addition, the conclusions drawn from the narratives are in and of themselves specious.

Rape, to be certain, is contemptible in any circumstance, and is always tragic for the victim. It should be repudiated and prosecuted by every civilized society. Furthermore, boys and men should be educated to respect the rights of women so that its occurrence is minimized.

But exploiting the victims of this heinous crime in pursuit of profits — which is precisely what Planned Parenthood is doing by sponsoring this project — is despicable, and should be condemned, not applauded. Make no mistake, Planned Parenthood is thinking about its bottom line, not the welfare of these women. It has proven, time and again, that it does not care about the health and safety of women or girls in the least. All it cares about is profit, and it rakes in money by selling one principal thing: abortion. 

This campaign is admittedly persuasive, but it is nothing more than Planned Parenthood-sponsored propaganda.

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!