PRO-LIFE GROUP SUES CALIFORNIA CITY OVER AERIAL ADVERTISING BAN

ANN ARBOR, MI, October 3, 2002 (LSN.ca) – The affluent City of Huntington Beach, California, has aimed its legislative guns on aircraft towing large graphic images of aborted babies over its beaches by enacting an ordinance effective October 16, 2002, that bans all aerial displays above or within the boundaries of the city.  According to one council member, the pro-life group sponsoring the aerial display has gone “one step too far.”  In response, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the central district of California on behalf of the pro-life group, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) and its executive director, Gregg Cunningham, asking the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and enjoin its enforcement.  “The battle to keep pro-life speech protected by the First Amendment has now taken to the airways,” said Robert Muise, Associate Counsel with The Thomas More Law Center, “Many people do not like these aerial banners because they effectively show that abortion is a violent act.  This ban was motivated by a bias against and a desire to censor CBR’s pro-life message.  We are committed to keeping all public forums open for pro-life speech, including those that are 500 feet above ground.”  Too see a photo of the huge aerial pro-life display click here:  https://www.thomasmore.org/index.cfm?location=5&subsectionid=1&release=150&pageid=1