US Bishops' ad campaign targeted for suppression in San Francisco

San Francisco, Calif., Jan 30, 2008 / 21:04 pm

A pro-life campaign sponsored by the U.S. Catholic Bishops has drawn the ire of a San Francisco chapter of Planned Parenthood, which is trying to have the campaign’s radio advertisements removed from local stations.

The Second Look Project, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, says on its website that it presents “basic facts” regarding abortion, offering “information to help people make informed decisions based on fact rather than emotion.”

One of the radio ads, titled “Heartbeat,” begins with a thumping heartbeat.

"Hear that?" says the announcer. "It's the heartbeat of an infant in the womb at six months.”  The announcer then describes the heart rate of the child and how his or her chances of survival would be greater than 50%.” 

“"But even today, his mother could choose to have an abortion,” the advertisement continues.  The ad says that Roe v. Wade legalized abortion “for virtually any reason” through all nine months of pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood’s Golden Gate chapter has begun an e-mail campaign to have the radio spots taken off the air, according to LifeSite News. One e-mail read, “They're running ads in the Bay Area, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., that tout lies and contain gross inaccuracies and pro-choice activists throughout the Bay Area are asking us to do something about it.”

The e-mail then suggests readers write to the stations airing the campaign, asserting the stations are unethical for playing the spots.

Yet Planned Parenthood seems to use a different set of standards for its own advertisements. The group most recently made headlines for its outrageous "Mile High Club" television ads, which featured a gay flight attendant named Stephen who cruises the aisles, showering young passengers with contraceptives. With the lights dimmed and party music blaring, he sits on the pilot's lap, as the camera zooms out, the two exchange winks.

Second Look Campaign spokeswoman Deirdre McQuade told LifeSite News that past efforts to have the Second Look ads pulled were successful in Seattle in 2007.  However, she also noted that the present effort to stop the campaign would have no immediate effect, because the radio campaign had already ended.

McQuade suggested that people write in to support the stations that ran the advertisements.  "I think the best thing to do is to call or write to those same two radio stations (KCBS & KFRC) and just very pleasantly thank them. No need for being defensive or strident or anything,” she said.

“I don't think we do enough affirming of the stations that do run our ads,” she continued.

Regarding Planned Parenthood’s accusation that the ads “tout lies and contain gross distortions,” McQuade challenged the organization to provide specific criticisms.  "Where exactly do you say the lies are? We've substantiated everything we've said on our website," she said.