Roundup: The Billboard People

More reaction to the Georgia billboards, and you'll never feel lonely again after the mini roundup.

In Minnesota, when you refer to "The Billboard People," everyone knows that you are discussing "Pro-Life Across America," a group that raises funds to put up anti-choice billboards around the state, with pudgy babies spouting thought bubbles like "I had hiccups when I was in your womb!"  But these days, billboards are becoming synonymous with the infamous "Black Children are an Endangered Species" ads sprouting up in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Pamela Merritt started an excellent discussion over this campaign last week.   Today, our roundup has some other people weighing in.

Tana Ganeva of Alternet refers to the campaign as the "creepy billboards."

The billboard campaign, created by the Radiance Foundation and
Georgia’s Operation Outrage, features a really cute, unaborted child
staring accusingly at female passersby thinking about contributing to
the destruction of the African-American community. ”Black Children Are
an Endangered Species,” it reads.

What an apt way to trumpet the anti-choice message; no feigned concern
for women’s wellbeing — not even of the “abortion should be illegal
because it makes some women sad” variety (Unlike having a baby against
your will, which always turns out great). Just a weird, creepy
guilt-trip.

Guilt trip appears to be a common theme in reaction to the signs, even from people who consider themselves pro-life.

Unfortunately, through our laws and policies, we have convinced these young women that an unborn child is not a human being.

And we have persuaded them that there is little difference between the morning after and a few weeks down the road.

But while a much quieter debate, abortion always has been a divisive issue in the African-American community.

In "African-American Women and Abortion," an essay by Loretta J.
Ross that traces the advocacy of black women in the planned parenting
movement, the author noted that both the "left" and the "right" aligned
themselves against black women when it came to birth control.

"That such disparate forces aligned themselves against
African-American women demonstrated that both white bigots and black
sexists could find common cause in the assertion of male authority over
women’s decision regarding reproduction," Ross wrote.

Although critics of Planned Parenthood still argue that the group
had racist intentions, "[black women] perceived the free services to be
in their own best interests," Ross wrote.

Frankly, young women who end up in an abortion clinic aren’t thinking about politics. They are trying to survive.

The black abortion billboard reflects rhetoric that will cause a commotion.

But it will not change this tragic trend.

Even some who still believe emphatically in the eugenic past of the choice movement see the billboards as a reminder that the recent conservative movement has failed the African American community, too.

And, conservatives have much to think about when they ponder these
billboards in Georgia. Just what do they know about the difficulties
and challenges that face black America? Do they recognize that their
invocations of Ronald Reagan’s name as if he was some kind of savior,
rings hollow in black America, not least because of the race baiting
that his campaigns entailed, the references to "welfare queens" and the
like, but because he launched a new economic era in which the rich
continue to get richer and the poor to get poorer, and America remains
too selfish to recognize that we need to pay more, not less, in taxes
if we are to maintain the standards of living which our forbears gave
to us. Conservatives have to recognize that as long as this country
does not treat health care as a universal right, as an entitlement,
poor black women (and poor white women and poor Latina women) will get
$400 abortions because they can’t afford the $10,000 it costs to give
birth in America today. Health care is pro-life too, my conservative
friends, and it will take more than tort reform to help poor women to
keep their children.


Mini Roundup: Men, if your condom feels uncomfortable, you’re not alone. And ladies, if his condom slipped off during sex, you’re not alone, either.

 

February 16, 2010

Between
the Sheets: Safe sex is the only way

Oklahoma Daily

Creepy
Billboards Accuse African-American Women of “Endangering” Black Kids
AlterNet

In
1996 video, Scott Roeder, later convicted of killing
abortion
doctor, rails
Kansas City Star

Black
women don’t need guilt trip from abortion billboard
Chicago Sun-Times

 

February 15, 2010

Respect
for Women in Uniform
New
York Times

Anti-abortion
group conducts informational protest

Berkshire Eagle

Ignatieff’s
abortion
push unhealthy
Calgary
Herald

Birmingham
clinic put on probation
Tuscaloosa News

Abortions
still involve termination of a life

Ottawa Citizen

Anti-abortion
billboards in Georgia claim ‘black children’ are ‘endangered
New York Daily News

Tebow
pro-family ad leads to surprising ‘choice’ message
USA Today

Report:
Birth-control
sabotage common
Omaha
World-Herald

Race
& Abortion
America
Magazine

National
Condom Week speaks sex truths
Daily Aztec

More
anger at modern morning-after pill

The Linc

Happy
190th Birthday Susan B. Anthony
Christian News Wire

Pro-Abortion
Sen. Evan Bayh to Retire, Easier for Pro-Lifers to Win Senate
LifeNews.com

An
important but often unacknowledged angle of the
abortion debate
LifeNews.com

Commissioners
deadlocked in
abortion
vote
abc11.com

In
Texas, ‘tea party’ candidate may shake up governor primary
Los Angeles Times

Doctor’s
killer talks of militancy in 1996 video
Kansas City Star

Good
News: Millions Reconsider Pro-
Abortion Views After Watching Super Bowl Ad
CitizenLink

House
committee passes anti-
abortion bill
KTUL

Legislation
would create
abortion
waiting period in Missouri
Kansas City Star

Report:
As Independent Abortion Centers Close, Planned Parenthood Biz Expands
LifeNews.com

Writer
Kathleen Parker Under Fire for Suggesting Sarah Palin Exploiting Son Trig
LifeNews.com

No
to sex
Boston
Globe

Sterilization
surgery not linked to sexual problems

Reuters

South
Dakota Abortions Up 20% in 2008, Pregnancy Center Redoubles Effort
LifeNews.com

Men
‘need better-fitting condoms’
BBC News

 

February 14, 2010

Super
Bowl ad research: New Barna study examines Tebow/Focus commercial
Church Executive Magazine

Revisiting
reproductive health
BusinessWorld
Online

The
great infertility myth – by Britain’s favourite baby-maker
Times Online

What
is Planned Parenthood really doing in Haiti?
OneNewsNow

Buffer
for
abortion
clinics infringes free speech
The News Journal

Out-of-state
money poured in on both sides of
abortion initiative
Rapid City Journal

Abortions
complicate premarital screenings in Arab World
Jerusalem Post

Controversial
Ga. billboards link
abortion, race
The Associated Press

Plan
B ad: Alone with your worries
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com

Guest
column: See through myths about black women, abortion
DesMoinesRegister.com

The
meaning of
pro-life
Santa Maria Times

Pro-Life Day
celebrated
Times
of Malta

Pro-Life
News: Health Care, Abortion, Poll, Indiana, Oklahoma, Candice Bergen
LifeNews.com

 

February 13, 2010

Letter:
Pro-life,
pro-choice and abortion
2TheAdvocate

Wake
health plan excludes elective
abortions

Winston-Salem Journal

WHERE
THEY STAND: GOP gov candidates on the issues
Dallas Morning News

Shame
on Ignatieff for playing politics in pushing
abortion

Ottawa Citizen

Obama’s
czars push
abortion
agenda
Chicago
Daily Herald

Abortion
foes in W.Va. look to ultrasound bill

CNBC

Outside
money fueled
abortion
ballot campaign
Daily Republic

AZ pro-life
laws currently in limbo
OneNewsNow

Ohio
House Speaker reverses decision, allows
pro-life teen to be honored
Catholic News Agency

 

February 12, 2010

Young
adult Catholics are largely
pro-life but say they are moral relativists
Catholic Culture

Feds
admit they wronged pro-lifers
OneNewsNow

Fox
& Friends Promote
Pro-Life Teen, Smear Ohio House Speaker, And
Ignore ACLU
News
Hounds

Tebow
Ad Scores With
Pro-Life
Groups
ChristianityToday.com

Interview:
Cut from American Idol, but Thrilled for Chance to Spread
Pro-Life
Lifesite

40
Days For Life national prayer campaign comes to Fond du Lac
Catholic Online

Pro-Life
Catholic Group Launches Campaign to Support Stamp for Mother Teresa
LifeNews.com

YouTube
Censors
Pro-Life Tim
Tebow Commercial on Super Bowl Ad Voting Site
LifeNews.com

Interview:
For Controversial Ohio Teen,
Pro-Life Activism a Life-Long Passion
Lifesite

Planned
Parenthood Advocates of New York to Harold Ford Jr.: ‘Stop proclaiming yourself
pro-choice
ReadMedia

Planned
Parenthood to give free emergency
contraception

Montana Kaimin

The
Church’s teaching on
contraception reveals hidden mysteries
Catholic Insight

Pregnant
women battle insurance debacles
Flagler College Gargoyle

Condom
use down in state, but up in city
Times of India

Billboard
Campaign Sparks
Abortion Debate
89.3 KPCC

NC
county cuts some
abortion coverage for staff
Greenville Daily Reflector

Top
Democrat Confirms Reconciliation on Table to Push Pro-
Abortion
Health Care
LifeNews.com

Obama
Budget Rewards Law-Breaking Planned Parenthood
Abortion Centers
LifeNews.com

Abolitionist
John Brown and the
abortion debate continued
Examiner.com

Planned
Parenthood Opens Big New
Abortion Center Sunday in Portland, Oregon
LifeNews.com

Oklahoma
Senate Panel Approves Three Key Pro-Life Bills Limiting
Abortions
LifeNews.com

Planned
Parenthood criticizes Ford on
abortion issue
Politics on the Hudson

Tory
candidates reveal anti-
abortion views
Financial Times

Pro-Abortion
Rep. Patrick Kennedy Will Not Seek Reelection
Lifesite

Group
submits proposal to ban
abortions in Colorado
Fox 31 KDVR.com

Abortion ban
proposal may be on Colo. ballot again

KRDO

2nd
step to save the world..wear condoms

Mother Nature Network

Family
planning
takes backseat to curling for Canadian skip
Montreal Gazette

Press
On — Abstinence program works for teens
Lake County Record-Bee