‘My Abortion, My Life’ billboard campaign lies to women

Preterm, the abortion facility in Cleveland, Ohio, that killed 22-year-old Lakisha Wilson with its negligence following her abortion, has embarked on an abortion-cheerleading ad campaign which has both men and women rightfully raising their eyebrows. The ad campaign, ironically titled, “My Abortion, My Life,” consists of 16 billboards in and around the Cleveland area. The Associated Press reports that the ad campaign comes on the heels of a law banning abortions for Down syndrome in the state, and is “aimed at challenging the stigma around abortion.”

On January 4, LifeSite News shared some of the billboard slogans, such as:

“Abortion is a family value.”

“Abortion is a blessing.”

“Abortion is hope.”

“Abortion is a parenting decision.”

“Abortion is life-saving.”

“Abortion is good medicine.”

“Abortion is healthcare.”

“Abortion is necessary.”

“Abortion is safer than childbirth.”

“Abortion is normal.”

“Abortion is liberty.”

“Abortion is a second chance.”

“Abortion is right for me.”

Lest you think we’ve stumbled into the world of George Orwell’s 1984 where we read that “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength,” let’s pick apart a handful of these propagandist statements:

“Abortion is life-saving” and “Abortion is necessary”

This particular argument is usually pushed by those who act as if women will certainly die if abortion is ever again made illegal. But this just isn’t the case. But this act of directly and deliberately killing the preborn child in the womb is not necessary to save a woman’s life. As OB/GYN and former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explains, if a woman’s life is in danger, the treatment is the early delivery of the child, not the child’s intentional death:

A Conversation with a Former Abortionist: Is abortion ever medically necessary?

“Abortion is good medicine” and “Abortion is healthcare”

Deliberately causing the death of a human being is in no way good medicine, nor is it healthcare.

Former Planned Parenthood manager Crystal Eldridge recently told Live Action News that not all abortionists are even OB/GYNs — meaning they do not have specialized training regarding women’s reproductive systems. This leads to women being put at risk. It’s not good medicine.

Aside from this, abortion is a wholly unnecessary invasive surgical procedure that is fraught with risks for women. And good medicine, good healthcare, typically does not involve killing… yet that is the very point of an abortion — to kill the human being in the womb. Note the violence of abortion even in the first trimester, and the risks to women, in this video narrated by Dr. Levatino:

1st Trimester Surgical Abortion: Suction (Aspiration) D & C

Women getting the abortion pill don’t fare any better. If the pill actually works, women essentially go through labor at home. In October, Teen Vogue published an article claiming that taking this pill regimen was ” like having a period. …While it may cause cramps and bleeding similar to your typical period, it’s a safe, simple, and noninvasive way to provide reproductive care.” But many women describe it as the worst pain they’ve ever experienced: “searing, gripping, squeezing pain” and “extreme… bleeding,” and the abortion facility doesn’t have to deal with any of it; women do. On their own. At home. How is this good medicine or good healthcare?

“Abortion is safer than childbirth”

This claim has been repeated. And repeated. And repeated. But is it true?

In 2013, a study published in the Linacre Quarterly gave reason to doubt this popular pro-abortion mantra. As Live Action News reported, the study’s abstract stated:

There are numerous and complicated methodological factors that make a valid scientific assessment of abortion mortality extremely difficult. Among the many factors responsible are incomplete reporting, definitional incompatibilities, voluntary data collection, research bias, reliance upon estimations, political correctness, inaccurate and/or incomplete death certificate completion, incomparability with maternal mortality statistics, and failing to include other causes of death such as suicides.

Personhood Education noted at the time: “Serious health complications arising from abortion which threaten the life of the woman are usually handled by hospital emergency rooms, not the abortion provider. Despite being the result of physical complications of the abortion procedure, these abortion-related deaths are reported as maternal deaths.”

Last year, Live Action News’ Cassy Fiano reported that this doesn’t even include “[i]ndirect abortion-related deaths, such as from suicide, drug or alcohol abuse, depression, and anxiety,” which are “not counted at all. The risk of suicide in particular is extremely high; up to 60% of women who have abortions have suicidal thoughts, with 28% actually attempting suicide.”

“Abortion is normal.”

Even if proponents were correct in claiming that 1 in 3 women will abort a child in their lifetimes (a claim which has been thoroughly debunked), that still leaves two-thirds of women who will not. In 2016, a Washington Post fact checker gave the 1 in 3 claim “Four Pinocchios.” As reported by Live Action News, that didn’t change the opinion of  “NARAL Pro-Choice America spokesperson Kaylie Hanson Long, who also admitted that the ‘one in three women has had an abortion’ claim was ‘presumed.’ But, she said, it shouldn’t matter whether the claim is false because it ‘is a common medical procedure…that must be respected and available, given there’s a clear need for it for so many women in this country.’ In other words, even if the claim is not factual, abortion advocates will continue to use it to push their preferred narrative that abortion is extremely common among women.”

And that’s what this billboard is trying to do — to normalize deliberately killing children in the womb by claiming that it already is normal. But we all instinctively know that the disruption of a pregnancy is by no means “normal.” A “normal” pregnancy is one which results in a live birth. One which does not, whether ending in a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, cannot be considered normal.

Baby Development Week by Week

Preterm’s entire billboard campaign is a desperate and practically blasphemous attempt by the industry to continue pretending that killing preborn children is some sort of moral good. But the bodies of more than 60 million dead babies, disposed of as medical waste, and the bodies of their mothers — some dead, some wounded — say otherwise.