Anti-abortion rights youth begin ‘Abolish Abortion’ media blitz
UPDATED: March 9, 12:35 p.m.
“Social Justice Begins in the Womb!”
That’s one of several Twitter/Facebook status updates available for use from a brand-new anti-abortion rights website called Abolish Abortion, whose aim is to mobilize young citizens to demonstrate their support for House Republicans’ measure to block federal funds from Planned Parenthood.
The site is run by Students for Life of America and sponsored by the same coalition of student-led anti-abortion rights groups responsible for the website Expose Planned Parenthood. Among the groups involved include: Live Action, Human Life Alliance, Susan B. Anthony List, 40 Days for Life, Americans United for Life, Stand True, Abort 73, National Right to Life, Pro-Life Action League, National Right to Life, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers.
On the Abolish Abortion site, many of these organizations advertise job openings, but most of these are internships that are either unpaid or offer a minimal stipend.
Users are encouraged to spend the next 10 days — leading up to when the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government expires and Congress will be forced to agree on a spending bill or shut the government down until a compromise is reached — constantly updating their Twitter and Facebook feeds with anti-Planned Parenthood messages using their own creativity or samples provided by the organization.
Examples of social media status updates gathered on the Abolish Abortion site*:
“„“Today is International Women’s Day. What are you doing to expose the truth about genercide [sic] and targeting of women for abortion worldwide?”
“„“Planned Parenthood commits 300,000+ abortions every year. That’s 40% of their clinic income. 300,000 innocent lives taken.”
Users are also encouraged to donate their Facebook pages — allowing the group to update for them.
Last week, Students for Life of America announced a YouTube video contest, calling on high school- and college-age students to create YouTube videos that describe why Planned Parenthood should be defunded. The contest was supposed to end on Monday at midnight but was extended through Thursday at midnight. The advertised grand prize is $1,000. The contest description on studentsforlife.org does not specify any restrictions on what is depicted in the video entries.
View entering videos on YouTube by searching for the tag “2011 Expose Planned Parenthood Video Contest”.
And for the more luddite young anti-abortion rights activists, Students for Life Executive Director Kristan Hawkins, who announced the media campaign at a teleconference Monday, suggested calling or e-mailing lawmakers, while 40 Days for Life director David Bereit told supporters they should consider fasting for the 40-day duration of Lent, which begins Wednesday.
**Correction: We previously referred to these status messages as samples offered by Students for Life of America and ExposePlannedParenthood.com. Instead they are examples of people’s individual posts. *
