All Things (Except Abortion) Considered

This evening, NPR's All Things Considered reported that a federal district judge in Idaho struck down a 2014 law that had criminalized undercover video and audio investigations of farming operations. The Dairymen's Association had lobbied for the law to protect their operations from animal rights activists who were disguising themselves--in plain sight--as employees, and then secretly video or audio taping while on the job.  The judge said such uncover investigations were protected by the First Amendment, as form of political speech.

NPR interviewed animal rights activist Matt Rice of Mercy for Animals who makes his case for the need for their investigations:  "These animals have been moved inside, behind closed doors, out of sight and out of mind of most Americans, but by doing these undercover investigations, we can act as the eyes and ears for the American public." The reporter notes that Mercy for Animals have released the videos, revealing some of the most "unappetizing" part of American agriculture: "filth, overcrowding, disease, suffering."

Now, I take no issue with the reporting of this story as such. But NPR's favorable treatment of animal rights' activist Matt Rice made me wonder how they would treat the undercover work of David Daleiden or Lila Rose, those who have engaged in similar work, but investigate instead the "unappetizing" part of what we euphemistically call the "right to choose." As it turns out, we don't have to guess. In an article published on July 22nd, NPR reports: 

[Daldeiden] has been helping to create similar sting videos for years and has ties to larger well-known groups that oppose abortion. [He] previously worked at Live Action, whose young founder, Lila Rose, has become a darling among abortion opponents with her own series of sting videos targeting Planned Parenthood....As with Daleiden's videos, closer examinations have found those posted by Live Action use deceptive editing to make false claims....Abortion rights groups have suggested that Daleiden needed a new company to issue his videos, since the work of Live Action has been discredited. 

I don't know Daldeiden. I have only watched the first of his videos. (And I have never weighed in on the morality of such "sting" operations, a question that arose after Lila Rose's 2011 videos became public: I see good arguments on both sides.) But much like Matt Rice, Daldeiden investigates heinous acts done "behind closed doors, out of sight and out of mind of most Americans, [acting] as the eyes and ears for the American public." Indeed, one would think investigating the dismemberment and sale of human beings might just provide a greater public service than investigating abuse of animals. Call me naive, but it still confounds me that NPR can't see that.