Anti-Abortion Billboard in SoHo Comes Down

Anti-Abortion Billboard in SoHo Comes Down

Updated: Friday, 25 Feb 2011, 10:28 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 24 Feb 2011, 4:34 PM EST

MYFOX NEW YORK STAFF REPORT

MYFOXNY.COM - Lamar Advertising pulled down a controversial anti-abortion billboard that hung over a building in SoHo, but the company told MyFoxNY.com that the decision had nothing to do with the content of the advertisement.

The ad read "The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb"and featured a photo of a young African-American girl behind the text and a link to a website for a group called Life Always .

"We received a complaint that some people who objected to the billboard were harassing the wait staff of a nearby restaurant," said Hal Kilshaw, a VP for Lamar Advertising. "We heard that there would be a protest tomorrow. There were concerns about problems for people who live or work in the area. That's why we chose to take it down. We are not taking the copy down because we don't think the copy should have been accepted in the first place or that it is too controversial."

In a statement, Life Always said it disagreeed with Lamar's decision.

"[T]he billboard's message holds true, and truth has a place in the public square," the group said in the statement. "The intent of the board is to call attention to the tragedy and the truth that abortion is outpacing life in the black community."

The billboard over Sixth Avenue was purposely placed near a Planned Parenthood location.

The activist Rev. Al Sharpton cancelled a protest at the billboard site that he had planned for Friday.

"The billboard was offensive, especially during Black History Month," Sharpton said in a statement Thursday.

But Rev. Michel Faulkner, a pastor from Harlem who is black, strongly disagrees that the billboard is offensive.

"While this billboard causes a visceral reaction from many African Americans, it addresses a stubborn truth that 60 percent of black babies do not make it out of the womb. We must do something now," said Faulkner, a supporter of Life Always. "Instead of challenging the design of the ad, we should ask why the message is true and how can we change the fact that the leading cause of death for African Americans is abortion."

The girl seen in the photo is Anissa Fraser, 6. On Wednesday, her mother, Tricia Fraser, said she was shocked that her daughter's image was used in the billboard.

"I would never endorse something like that," Fraser said Wednesday. "Especially with my child's image." Fraser wanted the group to pull the ad.

Two years ago, Fraser brought her four children to a modeling agency to be photographed. She acknowledged signing a release form that allowed the photos to be sold as stock images. But she said she never thought her daughter would become the face of a pro-life campaign focusing on African Americans.

The Women of Color Policy Network at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service had objected to the billboard and had written a letter to the advertising company.

"The billboard is only one of the many attacks on reproductive freedom and services for low-income women across the country," said Nicole Mason, the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network.

With Dan Bowens

Jason B. wrote:The ad was in very poor taste and tried to make an unfair scapegoat out of black babies.

tmontyb wrote:

Jason B. wrote:The ad was in very poor taste and tried to make an unfair scapegoat out of black babies.

That's all there is to it. It was taken down as it should have been.