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fraud
–noun
1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery: mail fraud; election frauds.
3. any deception, trickery, or humbug: That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.
4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.

Pick a dictionary definition and it applies. They may not have gained financially, but putting something out there that's entirely untrue and seemingly only for personal amusement is at least definition 4. They're poseurs and shams. They played on the highly emotional strings of the abortion debate and debased the issue altogether.

A parable's intent is to teach something. Like you said, it's intended to be a moral lesson. There's nothing morally righteous or otherwise proper about what they've done.