Louisiana Right to Life Asks Senator Landrieu to "Take a Look and Decide" Through State-Wide Newspaper and Social Media Campaign
New Orleans, LA- On Sunday October 6th, Louisiana Right to Life will run half-page ads in five major newspapers across the state to call attention to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and encourage Louisiana citizens to contact Senator Landrieu who remains undecided on the legislation.
Louisiana Right to Life (LARTL) utilized two images as the basis of the ad campaign. The first "Baby in Hand" ad depicts a medically-accurate fetal model in an adult's hand, while the "In Utero" image utilizes a photograph of the unborn child in utero provided by the Life Issues Institute.
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| Example Ad in Newspapers |
The ads will run in the New Orleans Times Picayune, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, Monroe News-Star, Shreveport Times, and Alexandria Daily Town Talk. The Houma Today and the Lake Charles American Press rejected both versions of our ad.
Initially, The Advocate rejected the ads, but has recently informed Louisiana Right to Life that they are willing to accept the "In Utero" version of the ad.
In a Weekly Standard article published online on July 26th, 2013, journalist John McCormick writes that when he asked Senator Landrieu about whether she supports the legislation passed by the U.S. House (H.R. 1797) on June 18th that bans late abortions at 20 weeks fetal age, Senator Landrieu said the following:
"I'm going to look at it. I've voted to end late-term abortions," Landrieu said, referring to her vote for the partial-birth abortion ban.
"I do support, you know, the current constitutional outline which provides for decisions to be made which are very private in, you know, the early stages of pregnancy," Landrieu continued. "So I'm going to have to look at that bill and make a decision. I've opposed late-term abortion, but 20 weeks is midterm."
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, made the following statement after the Weekly Standard article was published:
"Senator Landrieu has informed us that she is undecided on legislation that protects unborn babies in the final fourth months of pregnancy. The babies at question here could live outside the womb. They are almost completely developed. It is unfortunate that a Senator from our pro-life state would have to think hard about this common-sense legislation.
We encourage Senator Landrieu to take a close "look" at the images found in the papers across the state of what a baby looks like at 20 weeks and decide if she is comfortable standing on the sidelines while the likes of Kermit Gosnell take the lives of these babies that can feel pain.
We are asking citizens of Louisiana to contact Senator Landrieu and ask her to support the legislation AND publicly write Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to request that he schedule a vote on H.R. 1797 (or similar legislation yet to be introduced in the Senate) for a vote on the Senate floor before the end of 2013."
The ads will also be followed by a state-wide internet and social media campaign to encourage citizens to reach out to Senator Landrieu.
Separate from these ads, Louisiana Right to Life, together with 25 elected officials in Louisiana led by Governor Jindal and Senator Vitter, released on Friday October 4th a
letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to schedule H.R. 1797 for a vote before the end of 2013. Louisiana Right to Life requested to have Senator Landrieu join the letter, but communication to her staff was not returned.
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