#336 Stop Stereotypes, Before Roe - November 11, 2016
Stop the Stereotypes! The US election results (presidential and otherwise) make it all the more urgent that we communicate to the media about the importance of avoiding the stereotypes in pro-life coverage. So we’ll be once again sending out a separate message about signing our Petition to the Media. You can forward the message on to as many friends and listservs as you think might be interested – and some personal follow-up makes them more likely to sign. Maria Tsikalas left this comment with her petition signature: “Media organizations scoff at accusations of bias, wonder why trust in media is at an all-time low (making people susceptible to wild conspiracy theories and demagogues). And yet every time abortion emerges as an issue in the news, reporters at mainstream institutions trip over themselves to interview the folks who most obnoxiously fit the stereotypes, or to use word-for-word Planned Parenthood talking points in their coverage. March for Life photo coverage usually consists of about 4 photos of Catholic nuns/priests, 2 close-ups of young people praying fervently, and then a few shots of the counter-protesters in front of the Supreme Court. Hardly ever does the full scope of the half-million people in attendance in the bitter cold make the news. It doesn't have to be this way. Showing the diversity of pro-lifers helps media institutions regain their credibility.”
Latest Issue of Life Matters Journal & A Standing Ovation
The November issue includes a personal reflection from CL Board member Carol Crossed and a poem from Board member Sarah Terzo.
In good news about spreading the word, the journal’s Managing Editor, Aimee Murphy, reports on a presentation she made at St. Louis University High School; on her first of three presentations, she got a standing ovation in a room of about a thousand young men. She remarks, “This generation is READY for the #ConsistentLifeEthic! #prolifefeminist #ProPeaceProLife #SLUH #issuesday #Jesuit #STL”
CL Blog We didn’t post a blog piece this week, which we normally put up on Tuesdays. We had prepared one, but it turned out to be entirely irrelevant, given what happened in the wee hours of the morning on November 9. We have one in the works with research on some of the worst US Supreme Court decisions in history and what we can learn from them about how to deal with judges committing outrages. Watch for it next Tuesday.
Quotation of the Week
Daniel K. Williams Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-life Movement Before Roe v. Wade, p. 3 Note: The success referred to is that in 1971 and 1972, no new abortion legalization was passed in the U.S. states, and some efforts to repeal it in other states were almost successful, meaning they might succeed yet. Because historians have misunderstood the pro-life movement’s origins, they have been unable to explain why it remains a potent political force today, long after other socially conservative, religiously inspired causes, from Prohibition to school prayer, have faded from the scene. . . . But because the pro-life movement grounded its arguments in the language of human value and constitutional rights, it was able to attract a politically and religiously diverse coalition that actually gained strength over time. The pro-life movement succeeded because it drew on the same language of human rights, civil rights, and the value of human life that insured the struggle for African American freedom, the feminist movement, antiwar protests, and the campaign for the rights of gays and lesbians.
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