Lila Rose
Encyclopedia
Lila Grace Rose is an American pro-life
activist and the founder of the pro-life group Live Action
. She is known for a series of campaigns against affiliated facilities of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
, the third of eight children of an engineer at Sun Microsystems
. She was home-schooled through to the end of high school, and was a history major at the University of California, Los Angeles
. She is a devout Catholic
.
Rose founded the pro-life group Live Action when she was 15 and continued her activism at UCLA. Rose has attended workshops at the conservative, non-profit Leadership Institute
. In 2009, as an invited speaker at the Values Voters Summit, she suggested that abortions should be performed in the public square until the "public tired of seeing them and did away with the injustice altogether."
.
's grassroots organizing handbook "Rules for Radicals
." After further inspiration by Texas activist Mark Crutcher
's taping of calls to Planned Parenthood clinics featuring women posing as pregnant minors, they came up with the idea to visit in the fall of 2006 several Planned Parenthood clinics wearing secret video cameras. Rose has conducted stings at Planned Parenthood clinics in and around several major cities since then. Her activism has focused on issues such as the high abortion rate in the African-American community – an effort that has received support from Alveda King
– to protest Planned Parenthood's providing of abortion services. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortion
s in the United States.
The pretenses used in her undercover operations are diverse and include such things as Rose acting the part of a minor impregnated by a 23-year old male. While using this persona, she claimed that staff at Planned Parenthood clinics advised her to lie about her age and ignored her partner's age. Rose also released recordings of O'Keefe attempting to elicit racially charged responses from clinic staff by offering donations to pay for abortions for black women. Another act had Rose posing as a 13-year-old minor impregnated by a 31-year-old man. When told she would need parental consent and must name the father, Rose balks. At first, the staff member says it must be reported to Child Protective Services, but after a minute of silence the staff member is heard saying "Okay, I didn't hear the age. I don't want to know the age. It could be reported as rape. And that's child abuse."
Rose shot an undercover video at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham, Alabama
which resulted in the state placing the clinic on probation for a year.
Rose was featured in the 2010 CNN
documentary Right on the Edge, which spotlighted young conservative activists.
and a prostitute soliciting advice from Planned Parenthood clinic workers on how to procure abortions and birth control for underage prostitutes. Rose said the videos prove Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks laws and covers up abuse. In response to the videos, Planned Parenthood has reaffirmed its Zero Tolerance policy for situations in which minors are endangered and its commitment to states' mandatory reporting laws for underage girls. Planned Parenthood reported to the FBI
at least 12 visits to its clinics by the man in the video several days after the videos were recorded but prior to their public release.
There have been no criminal charges or investigations resulting from the videos. Attorney General of Virginia
Ken Cuccinelli
said at one time he might investigate Planned Parenthood as a result of the videos, but he conceded during a Fox interview that he lacks "an actual case of it on film" — meaning a case that involves victims instead of actors pretending to run a sex-slave business. Cuccinelli went on to say, "But what you do have is clearly an open willingness of several organizations, meaning subsidiaries of Planned Parenthood nationally in the same category, sex trafficking of minors, and an open willingness to participate in this." But Live Action national counsel Peter Breen said an actual case is not needed, comparing the undercover journalism in the videos to that of NBC
's To Catch a Predator
. At the Federal level, United States Attorney General
Eric Holder
has declined to pursue charges against Planned Parenthood, stating "It is my understanding that the FBI actually has looked at that matter" and "prosecution was declined in that matter".
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
activist and the founder of the pro-life group Live Action
Live Action (organization)
Live Action is an American pro-life non-profit organization founded by Lila Rose in 2004. According to their website, they are a "youth led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion." They are known for controversial stings against Planned Parenthood clinics, the largest...
. She is known for a series of campaigns against affiliated facilities of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Biography
Rose was raised in San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, the third of eight children of an engineer at Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. She was home-schooled through to the end of high school, and was a history major at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. She is a devout Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
Rose founded the pro-life group Live Action when she was 15 and continued her activism at UCLA. Rose has attended workshops at the conservative, non-profit Leadership Institute
Leadership Institute
The Leadership Institute is a 501 non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches "political technology.".The Institute was founded in 1979 by conservative activist Morton C. Blackwell...
. In 2009, as an invited speaker at the Values Voters Summit, she suggested that abortions should be performed in the public square until the "public tired of seeing them and did away with the injustice altogether."
Awards
In 2008, she was personally awarded $50,000 in the annual "Life Prizes" awards, sponsored by the Gerard Health Foundation, a pro-life charity. She also received the "Person of the Year Malachi Award" from Operation Rescue that same year. In 2009, she was named a "Young Leader" by the pro-life non-profit Susan B. Anthony ListSusan B. Anthony List
The Susan B. Anthony List, or simply SBA List, is a 501 non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S. by supporting pro-life politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List Candidate Fund political action committee...
.
Activism
At the age of 15, Rose founded Live Action and began giving presentations to schools and youth groups. She and conservative activist James O’Keefe III found inspiration in activist Saul AlinskySaul Alinsky
Saul David Alinsky was a Jewish American community organizer and writer. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing, and has been compared in Playboy magazine to Thomas Paine as being "one of the great American leaders of the nonsocialist left." He is often noted...
's grassroots organizing handbook "Rules for Radicals
Rules for Radicals
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals is the last book written by community organizer Saul D. Alinsky shortly before his death in 1972...
." After further inspiration by Texas activist Mark Crutcher
Mark Crutcher
Mark Crutcher is an American pro-life activist and author from Denton, Texas. He is the founder and president of Life Dynamics Inc. and creator of the documentary Maafa 21.-Biography:...
's taping of calls to Planned Parenthood clinics featuring women posing as pregnant minors, they came up with the idea to visit in the fall of 2006 several Planned Parenthood clinics wearing secret video cameras. Rose has conducted stings at Planned Parenthood clinics in and around several major cities since then. Her activism has focused on issues such as the high abortion rate in the African-American community – an effort that has received support from Alveda King
Alveda King
Alveda Celeste King is an American Christian minister, conservative, pro-life activist, and author. She is a niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and daughter of the late civil rights activist Rev. A. D. William King, Sr. and his wife Naomi Barber King...
– to protest Planned Parenthood's providing of abortion services. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s in the United States.
The pretenses used in her undercover operations are diverse and include such things as Rose acting the part of a minor impregnated by a 23-year old male. While using this persona, she claimed that staff at Planned Parenthood clinics advised her to lie about her age and ignored her partner's age. Rose also released recordings of O'Keefe attempting to elicit racially charged responses from clinic staff by offering donations to pay for abortions for black women. Another act had Rose posing as a 13-year-old minor impregnated by a 31-year-old man. When told she would need parental consent and must name the father, Rose balks. At first, the staff member says it must be reported to Child Protective Services, but after a minute of silence the staff member is heard saying "Okay, I didn't hear the age. I don't want to know the age. It could be reported as rape. And that's child abuse."
Rose shot an undercover video at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
which resulted in the state placing the clinic on probation for a year.
Rose was featured in the 2010 CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
documentary Right on the Edge, which spotlighted young conservative activists.
2011 undercover videos
In February 2011, Rose released undercover videos filmed in several different cities showing an unidentified man and a woman posing as a pimpPimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
and a prostitute soliciting advice from Planned Parenthood clinic workers on how to procure abortions and birth control for underage prostitutes. Rose said the videos prove Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks laws and covers up abuse. In response to the videos, Planned Parenthood has reaffirmed its Zero Tolerance policy for situations in which minors are endangered and its commitment to states' mandatory reporting laws for underage girls. Planned Parenthood reported to the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
at least 12 visits to its clinics by the man in the video several days after the videos were recorded but prior to their public release.
There have been no criminal charges or investigations resulting from the videos. Attorney General of Virginia
Attorney General of Virginia
The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election . There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General...
Ken Cuccinelli
Ken Cuccinelli
Kenneth Thomas 'Ken' Cuccinelli II is a U.S. politician and the Attorney General of Virginia. From 2002 until January 16, 2010 he was a Republican member of the Senate of Virginia, representing the 37th district in Fairfax County...
said at one time he might investigate Planned Parenthood as a result of the videos, but he conceded during a Fox interview that he lacks "an actual case of it on film" — meaning a case that involves victims instead of actors pretending to run a sex-slave business. Cuccinelli went on to say, "But what you do have is clearly an open willingness of several organizations, meaning subsidiaries of Planned Parenthood nationally in the same category, sex trafficking of minors, and an open willingness to participate in this." But Live Action national counsel Peter Breen said an actual case is not needed, comparing the undercover journalism in the videos to that of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's To Catch a Predator
To Catch a Predator
To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine program Dateline NBC. It is devoted to impersonating underage youth and detaining adults who contact them over the Internet for sexual liaisons...
. At the Federal level, United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Eric Holder
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama....
has declined to pursue charges against Planned Parenthood, stating "It is my understanding that the FBI actually has looked at that matter" and "prosecution was declined in that matter".
External links
- Profile at Live ActionLive Action (organization)Live Action is an American pro-life non-profit organization founded by Lila Rose in 2004. According to their website, they are a "youth led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion." They are known for controversial stings against Planned Parenthood clinics, the largest...
- Fighting for Life, Lila Rose, First Things, October 2010