Planned Parenthood has been feeling the heat all summer after a series of videos released by the Center for Medical Progress showed executives discussing the sale and disposition of fetal tissue. The pressure culminated in a recent Capitol Hill hearing where Planned Parenthood’s President Cecile Richards was forced to admit, among other things, that the organization does not own a single mammography machine.
To put it mildly, Planned Parenthood is in the middle of a public relations nightmare and they only seem to be digging themselves deeper with time. I doubt Hollywood can save the ship, but that won’t stop them from portraying the nation’s leading abortion provider as a victim. Enter last night's Quantico episode, titled “America," in which the FBI Academy trainees are given an exercise where they must decipher a terrorist plot after being given a room full of clues.
What do you think our brave stars uncovered? If you guessed one was radical anti-abortionist wants to burn down the Planned Parenthood clinic where her daughter received an abortion, congratulations! You’ve won a prize.
Transcript:
With the evidence you collected, the analysts have been using the world's largest criminal database.
Ours.
To help determine when and where these attacks might occur.
Sir, I found a location. Our team’s survivalist shack belongs to a rogue member of the E.L.F. Intel from a K.A. on file points to an assassination attempt on the senator on the capitol steps.
Done. Board it.
Well, look at that. You are good at this.
With our evidence, looks like the woman who owned the suburban home is planning on burning down a Planned Parenthood. Her daughter got an abortion there.
Alex was right. Our hacker was put on a terrorist watch list by the FBI. He didn't like it.
To get revenge, he and his girlfriend are going to bomb Independence Hall.
Okay. Independence Hall, capitol steps, Planned Parenthood. Oh, nope, nope, nope, nope. Not so fast.
Now you know where. The question becomes, when? People who threaten this country every day. Not all of them follow through. As agents, you have to prioritize. You can't waste the bureau's resources. Which of these threats...
If any.
Are immediate? You have to decide before it's too late.
And you have five minutes.
Well clearly, it's Independence hall. Historical sites are the most targeted in this country.
Dude, it's the senator.
You're only saying that because it's what you found.
Most people who plan to blow up a building don't go through with it. Assassins do.
Is nobody gonna bring up Planned Parenthood? I mean, it's the easiest target. There's no security.
Well, if someone wanted to stop abortions, wouldn't they take down the doctors, not the building? Yeah, well, no offense, but I didn't work with you on this.
Wait, wait, you guys, I really--
I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm with Shelby. Assassinations take one person. It's easy. It's the senator.
Hacker.
An angry mom.
It could be both.
What if it's none?
None wasn't an option.
Agent O’Connor did say, "Which of these threats, if any."
Yeah, well, he also said that Planned Parenthood was the gun room, so that's where I'm going. I'm winning this thing.
Look, shouldn't there be a twist to this or something?
Well, it's not like your intuition hasn't been wrong before.
I may have been off my game since I got here, but not about this. I have a feeling.
We can't waste time waiting some hunch to kick in.
You have three minutes.
I'm going to the auditorium.
I'm going to the parking-lot capitol.
I'm going to the gun room!
Booth, you coming?
The other two scenarios don’t fare much better. In one, a hacker plans to take revenge for being put on an FBI watch list—exactly like every other innocent person you know would do. The third plot involves E.L.F., the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmentalist group. While E.L.F. is an actual organization, the episode paints its members as “survivalists,” conjuring up images of “preppers,” instead of giving them the “eco-terrorist” label used by the real-world FBI.
Quantico’s scriptwriters are also quick to note that this plot was planned by a “rogue member of the E.L.F.” While assassinations may be outside the purview of the real E.L.F., criminal action is a staple of the group. On February 12, 2002, Domestic Terrorism Section Chief James F. Jarboe testified before Congress that “the ALF/ELF have committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, resulting in damages in excess of 43 million dollars.”
It’s notable, but hardly surprising, that a show that’s supposed to be about following the evidence would downplay crimes perpetrated by liberal extremists while hyping one of the left’s favorite boogeymen. And it’s awfully convenient that just as Planned Parenthood is hitting rock bottom, Hollywood is there to extend a hand and try to reposition America’s number one abortion provider as a harmless victim.
