The recent indictment made against the Center for Medical Progress is ethically questionable on so many levels. It is clear now that the battle is of a spiritual nature, and Satan doesn’t like it when his works of darkness are exposed. In the civic realm, the freedom of the press and the discipline of investigative journalism are being unfairly bridled. As explained in Part One, David Daleiden has been charged with a felony regarding the alternative identity he took on in order to pose as a tissue procurement company.
All right. Let’s talk about everyone who has ever assumed an alternative identity for the purpose of investigation.
There’s To Catch a Predator, a hit reality show where Chris Hansen catches sexual predators using young teens who pose as potential sexual partners. Disturbing and effective, everyone knew it was the predator, not the decoys, worth going after!
Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, is a pro-life undercover investigator whose work is similar to Daleiden’s (he has worked with them in the past). It was her work (often done by going undercover in PP clinics) that exposed Planned Parenthood (PP) covering up sexual abuse, allowing sex-selective abortions, and informed the public that Planned Parenthood does no mammograms.
For a historic favorite, there is Nellie Bly. She bravely pretended to be insane and lived in an insane asylum for 10 days. Through this, she exposed the horrible behavior towards the women patients, and that far from reforming and assisting them, the so-called treatments and caretakers were likely contributing to the insanity. Nellie took on the name “Nelly Brown” during this time. What is now happening to David is as silly as proclaiming that Nelly Bly should have been charged for pretending to be insane. But she wasn’t, of course. Instead, her work paved the way for total reform. She is honored as a hero today.
These identity cases join many other whistle-blowing and investigative journalism cases in American history. There are the muckrakers, the Watergate scandal, the recent Fast and Furious exposé and many, many more. Do we wish to ban and endanger this entire genre of American press? Is our freedom of the press not vital to the fabric of our nation? “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Is that not, then, the true purpose of journalism, to petition the government for a redress of grievances? And is that not exactly what David Daleiden is doing, bringing to light grievances against abortion and Planned Parenthood? Thankfully, even some pro-choice people are concerned, stating, “Undercover exposés play a vital role in informing the American public of important facts that would otherwise remain hidden.” We cannot allow this important work to be hindered in a free nation.
Read Part Three of this series titled “Impugn the Court, not CMP” to see how this case hurts not just the pro-life cause and the freedom of the press, but also the integrity of the court.