Pro-life ad campaign prompts controversy in Philadelphia - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops refused advertising right - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 14, 2001 by Gill Donovan

As this paper went to press at the end of the first week of September, the city of Philadelphia was refusing to allow a scheduled display of bus shelter advertisements for a new "second look" campaign about abortion.

The Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had planned to launch the "Second Look Project" in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey Sept. 4. The campaign was to use a combination of ads on five radio stations, signs inside buses and trains, and posters at 34 bus shelters around the city.

But a few days before the campaign was to be announced Aug. 28, the secretariat was notified by the city that the posters would not be permitted because they were considered controversial and because "issue ads" are prohibited, said Cathleen Cleaver, spokeswoman for the secretariat.

Cleaver said the deputy mayor in charge of the transportation system told her there was no specific ordinance against them, but "we don't like issue ads."

The signs and the text of the radio ads are similar, she said. Each cites a fact about abortion, such as "Nine months. The amount of time the Supreme Court says it's legal to have an abortion," and raises the question, "Have we gone too far?"

Cleaver said the ads provide "basic factual information on abortion to help people form opinions based on fact rather than emotion."

As of Aug. 31, the secretariat was awaiting word from lawyers about what course to take.

Briefs, gathered from news services, correspondents and staff, are compiled and edited by Gill Donovan.