The Ethics of Righteous Video Sting Operations

By: American Decency Staff

So let me tell you right at the beginning what I think of the ethics of video sting operations (like the #PPSellsBabyParts story from last week). After telling you what I think about it, I want to lay out a biblical case for it.

The story caught Planned Parenthood by surprise, along with a bunch of people in the moderate middle whose reaction was “wait . . . what?” That being the case, Planned Parenthood’s first responses have been pretty lame, and have actually made things worse for them. Apologizing for the “tone” of the comments, as the head of Planned Parenthood did, is like Dylann Roof apologizing for jaywalking on the way to the church in Charleston.

I hope they don’t have time to collect themselves, and I hear there may be more videos ready to drop that might keep them on their heels. And if they are kept busy, and if the current climate is sustained for any length of time at all, every Christian should be pressing for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. The ways you press for it, in order of importance, would be 1. prayers, 2. hashtag activism, and 3. letting your congressman know that you don’t want Planned Parenthood to get one more thin dime. In short, keep this issue before the throne of Heaven, keep it before the online public, and keep it before the bursar.

But if they do get a minute to collect themselves, one of the push-back techniques they will almost certainly try is to challenge the ethics of secret sting video, and, if they have their wits about them, they will press for laws forbidding such operations. To which we should say, you know, laws have to be interpreted . . .

Nevertheless that particular challenge might still resonate with a lot of Christians. Such Christians are delighted by the damage done to PP, but are unsure about going in there like a secret agent wired for picture and sound, pretending to be someone you are not. Moreover, you are doing this surveillance operation entirely on your own, representing no one in authority at all.

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