WASHINGTON (LSN.ca) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will test-market a pro-life advertising campaign in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey starting tomorrow, September 4, with the theme “Abortion. Have we gone too far?” The campaign will include billboards at bus shelters, ads on commuter rail cars and continuous radio spots on five stations. If successful, both the ads and an Internet presence could be used nationwide.
“What's new about this is we are presenting a couple of facts in a nonemotional and intelligent way,” said Cathleen Cleaver, secretariat for pro-life activities. “We're not trying to provoke an emotional response but an intellectual response.”
One print ad shows a young woman with a nine-month calendar lightly superimposed over her womb. The text says: “Nine months. The amount of time the Supreme Court says it's legal to have an abortion. Abortion. Have we gone too far?” A radio ad has piano music playing in the background, with a woman saying: “In America you can choose to have an abortion at any time, for any reason. Because of that, one out of every four pregnancies now ends in abortion.”
The bishops are spending $250,000 in Philadelphia, hoping that regional Catholic dioceses will be inspired to use the materials in their communities.
Vatican Radio Says Bush Decision Opens Door to Dangerous Developments
VATICAN CITY (LSN.ca) – The decision of President George W. Bush to offer limited public funding for experimentation on cell lines developed from human embryos has been criticized by Vatican Radio.
Bush “has gone beyond the moral boundaries of research” and “his decision opens the door to very dangerous developments,” it said in an Aug. 10 broadcast. Bush and Pope John Paul II have discussed embryonic stem cell research in a July 23 meeting, with the Pope strongly urging the president to respect all human life and stop the practice.
Vatican Radio also transmitted the statement of Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops´ conference, who described the decision as “morally unacceptable.”
(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)