By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a liberal watchdog group, have demanded the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) launch an investigation into the “Second Look Project”, an awareness campaign on the facts of legal abortion funded by the Catholic bishops, which it calls “an ongoing and misleading ad campaign.”
Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said, “Mr. Catoe should abide by WMATA’s policies and immediately remove these false and deceptive ads from the Metro system as quickly as possible.” Sloan added that the transit agency should not be abetting “the dissemination of misleading information about women’s health.”
CREW specifically addressed the ads “Myth: Abortion is legal only in the first three months of pregnancy. Fact: It’s legal for the entire nine months for virtually any reason”, and “The human heart begins to beat at 22 days; Roe v. Wade says a doctor can stop it for the next 244.” CREW said the ads violate WMATA guidelines stating “advertising will not be accepted which is false, misleading or deceptive.”
However, “Second Look Project”, an awareness campaign on the facts of abortion funded by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, is no longer an “ongoing” campaign and ended February 16. The pro-life advertisements will remain in metro and bus lines – like all other advertisements – until they are replaced by other paid advertisements.
“CREW’s reaction is proof that the text of these ads are necessary in the broader public” said Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information at the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities. “Their reaction is the reason we ran the ads in the first place, which is to pierce through the myths about Roe: that abortion is legal only in various limited circumstances beyond viability or beyond the third month.”
McQuade explained that the Pro-life Secretariat conducted intense discussions with WMATA’s legal team in order to fulfill all requirements for their advertising requirements. WMATA thoroughly checked that each ad complied with their stringent guidelines. In fact, McQuade said that one particular ad had nearly 4 inches thick of paper documentation to prove beyond a doubt to WMATA’s legal team the veracity of the claims.
The “Second Look Project” appeared in 1,212 transit advertisements on Metro trains and buses in the Washington area. Throughout the train systems, one ad appeared in every fourth car, and 992 ads had a full showing behind the driver’s seat of the bus.
“It tends to be a conversation starter, and that’ exactly what we’re going for with these ads,” McQuade said. The ad campaign is also strategically targeted toward “those in cultural decision making capacities” making a commute on the Metro through Washington, D.C.
Second Look Project:
https://www.secondlookproject.org
See Related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Ads To Dispel Myths Of Legal Abortion Launched by US Bishops’ Office
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05012802.html
Abortion Activists Vandalize San Francisco Pro-Life Subway Advertisements
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06011606.html