Anti-abortion billboard sparks outrage !

Well, African Americans segregate themselves in many cases and instances from the rest of the American society. So I can't see a problem with the billboard.

Cabbage wouldn't educated middle class Afro & Caucasian Americans be perfectly capable of weighing the pro's and con's of an abortion on their own and not let themselves get swayed by a silly billboard?

This isn't a matter of which brand of soft drink to buy, this is abortions. Billboards aren't going to work.

If it helps reduce abortions, then go for it.

What about educated middle class Afro-Americans who find they need/want an abortion?

Or educated middle class white people?

No class is immune to abortion.

It has been proven there a high number of Afro-Americans have abortions and obviously not using effective contraception.

Would it not be better to address that issue rather than do this?

Sure it raised awareness amongst us middle class educated types who aren't the ones having the abortions in the first place. Who it didn't reach however are the young un wed mothers, the minimum wage earners, the unemployed, the crack heads and the prostitutes because they have more important things to care about than a stupid bill board. If these pro life loonies want to save a child how about they address the issues listed above and stop wasting money on bill boards.

It seems that both Planned Parenthood and Life Always are fighting a "Turf War" for customers ...

britexpat--sounds like it is already raising awareness. If people don't like the factual message, then they need to change the facts not kill the messenger.

Britexpat, sorry if my wording was a bit confusing. Yes, I quoted from a statement issued by Life Always. They are against - "Planned Parenthood" company, as they seem to be targeting minority areas. That's the reason why they put up the billboards next to their facilities.

Aside from the rights or wrongs of abortion.

From New York AM:

"But in defense, Rev. Derek McCoy, a board member of the group, Life Always, said the goal is to bring attention to abortion rates among African Americans.

"We want to raise awareness and create the dialogue … and let women understand that there are alternatives, all throughout the city."

According to 2006 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African Americans account for about 13 percent of the country's population, but for about 35 percent of its abortions.

Do you think it will help raise awareness ?

It got people's attention so the advertising campaign was a success.

I do not think it is up to me or any other individual to judge another person on the issue of abortion. If they wanted to bring about an awareness of this they could have simply advertised they were pro-life and perhaps added a link that people could access and find out the statistics for themselves.

There is enough prejudice towards Afro-Americans without them having the extra stigma of those 'that have the most number of abortions'.

I think it's a bit ignorant to target specific ethnic groups when it comes to abortions, but what do you expect from pro life groups besides ignorance.

very racist presentation... thats the first look. i dont know the statistics thats why... but even then... in my opinion that is directly pointing towards a specific community.

I think the advertising is contributing in the victimization mentality of the African race in the US.

A pregnant woman who made the CHOICE of committing the crime of abortion is not directly FORCED to do so by racists . The ad, however implies otherwise.

The billboard/advert is by a group called Life Always. Planned Parenthood is an abortion provider..

bah, nothing much is going to happen with this. Too much money down the drain.

"This particular billboard is about half a mile from a Planned Parenthood abortion facility." And according to the organization that put it up, the Planned Parenthood facilities are targeting minority neighborhoods.

I think it's fine. If you are from that particular neighborhood and belong to the African American community and take offense to it, then that's a different case.

Probably to raise awareness within the African-American community that abortion levels are so high and to spark discussion within the community. I suspect this is a multi-phase ad campaign. The next phase would be for the group to advertise what it sees as the solution to the problem. It's a standard advertising strategy.

Like a said, hardly anyone complains about the ethics of Michael Jordan hocking his shoes on billboards in black neighborhoods, implicitly stating to poor black kids that if they buy his shoes they too could become a wealth international celebrity. That's ok.

So what specifically is the billboard trying to achieve, bring down the levels of abortion of a community to "accepted" levels?

Abortion should not have been segregated,I certainly will not like it I fI were belonging to the targeted group,... Abortion being a common phenomena, advertisement against it should have been done like wise not try to bring down the claimed 'high' level of a certain ethnicity to the levels of other sections, and then what?it will become o.k?

Hardly anyone complains with the advertise products to specific sections of society--young people, old people, blacks, whites, hispanics, rich people, etc.--that's just the agency doing its job in reaching the target audience. This billboard was likely put up in a predominately black area of town. Now if they put it up in a white suburb, I could see the offense.

The complaints are not about the advertising as much as its portrayal of a specific cross section of the community...

I am moderately pro-choice, but I still think it is effective advertising in that it communicates a clear message effectively yet simply.