Anti-abortion posters banned by ASB
Billboards that read “The casualty list of every abortion: 1 dead, 1 wounded” have been banned by the Advertising Standards Bureaua and taken down by the Outdoor Media Association. Complaints against the ads, for campaign group How Good Is That, were upheld for breaching community standards.
One complainant said: “This is such a sensitive subject that I cannot even believe that it had approval to be advertised in the first place. The fact that someone turned a profit from this makes me sick.”
How Good Is That has also produced a video to go with its ‘casualty list’ campaign in which it describes abortion as a ‘holocaust against the next generation of Australians.”
Other campaigns by the advertiser, in which it wages war against banks and the Australian Taxation Authority, are available on its website.
I haven’t even finished watching this clip yet and it’s making me sick – how dare they compare abortion to the holocaust which in turn, compares the women making their decision to Hitler. I myself wouldn’t have an abortion but I don’t condemn those that do. Shame on all who had anything to do with this campaign!
User ID not verified.
It really goes to show how dimwitted and so out of touch these fundamentalist pro-lifers really are.
It’s like that gambling license ad – you just can’t take it seriously.
User ID not verified.
I stopped at 1:02.
There’s so much wrong with that already (even after just a minute) I couldn’t be bothered watching any more. It’ll just make me angry.
User ID not verified.
What about freedom of speech?
Oh that’s right, some people are more free than others.
User ID not verified.
Godwin’s Law meets Roe v Wade.
Clusterfuck of insanity ensues.
Another accidental master-class in why religion should be very, very separated from the state.
User ID not verified.
Stopped at 1.50. Dull viewing with holier than thou message. Very telling that the narrator is an old man. Cos like, he’s had enough abortions now to know better?
User ID not verified.
If you’re going to stand on your Soap Box, make damned certain you know what you’re taking about … otherwise you may as well stick your head in the stocks and prepare yourself for loads of rotten fruit aimed at your face!
User ID not verified.
Actually Stacey, ‘holocaust’ is a word that refers to the death of a large number of people. It is not exclusively tied to the events of WW2.
This clip is terribly put together and would struggle to hold anyone’s attention for 9 minutes.
However I agree with the overarcing message of this video. 100,000 is too many and there are many ways (through proper sex education, support for pregnant women and welfare) that we could reduce this number.
User ID not verified.
Interesting to note that they hide behind an anonymous domain name registration.
User ID not verified.
@ John. Yes there is a case for freedom of speech, but lets not get to the same point that they do in the US, where radical groups take advantage of the Freedom of Speech act to make statements that are racist or anti-Semitic and so on.
This is as offensive as saying ‘all pro lifers are terrorist clinic bombers and murderers of doctors who perform abortions’. That statement is not correct, and neither is the message of this ad, and I would not support any campaign claiming either sentiment.
@ Shane. Stacey referred to ‘The Holocaust’ and perhaps her only error was a grammatical one in not putting it in quotation marks of spelling it with capitals but I think we all know what specific event she was referring to in history.
I agree a better solution would be better with safe practice of sex so that people don’t reach the point of having to make the decision of aborting or not, but I will NEVER think any less of anyone who decides to go down that path for justifiable reasons, and when I say justifiable reasons, they will differ from person to person.
I welcome any campaign from right to life groups along those lines (better education, avoid being put in this situation), but that is not at all what this is about, and the timing of it with Anzac day and tying in the death of soldiers who in some cases died very slowly and painfully for the freedoms we enjoy today, is wrong, very wrong.
I totally accept that others will have very strong opinions counter to mine, that’s the beauty of democracy, please feel free to express those, but let’s again, keep them civil and on topic.
User ID not verified.
So strange. So the thesis is “abortion is bad because I actually didn’t want one”? Surely the same is true of bananas – so is that then a banana holocaust?
User ID not verified.
@John
Australia has no “right to free speech.” We have a constitutionally protected right to political communication. As this is largely a political issue (since that is the only sphere through which change may be enacted) I think they have a constitutional right to express themselves. So yes, I agree with you.
@ Bucks
The ambiguity of “justifiable reasons” is my main point. Without proper statistics (which don’t exist!) we cannot know for sure how many are committed out of fear, inconvenience, sexual assault, medical reasons, social stigma etc… That is my major concern at the moment. Unfortunately I fear many are due to financial strain and/or youth. These are preventable and no-one is doing anything about it… apart from pro-lifers. I respect them for it.
User ID not verified.
Abortion is a personal issue and though it is a hard choice to make not all women regret their decision. This is made to exploit the sensitivies of women and their partners who find themselves in a position where they need to decide if having a baby is right for them.
On another note, there are reports of limiting the number of children born to Australian couples and limited immigration… if all of these babies were born each year where will they fit?
User ID not verified.
Every day I walk past the Day Procedure Clinic in East Melbourne, outside which several fundamentalist Christians hold placards and dolls of fetuses.
I have nothing against their ability to protest something they disagree with. It’s what makes our country great.
The problem I have is when a young girl walks up to the clinic, having already had to wrestle with the horrible decision to abort their child, is then cruelly bombarded by biggots- crowding her and telling her she’s evil, wrong and a sinner who will burn in hell.
That makes me furious. As if the decision and the procedure isn’t hard enough.
Someone once said,
Religion is like a Penis.
It’s good to have one.
It’s fine to be proud of it.
But please don’t whip it out in public and start waving it around.
and PLEASE don’t try to shove it down my children’s throats.
User ID not verified.
Wow Anon! Education is what it’s all about. Yes, mistakes are made, but the responsibility surely lies with the couple that decide to make the decision to sleep with each other in the first place. At what point does a foetus become a child. At what point does a foetus have rights. Or does it not until it is born? At what point can a foetus think for itself? People need sex education and need to become more responsible. We only live once … Are we really alive as a young foetus. Can you really make the call … it’s an interesting debate. No one in my opinion can give one definitive answer. Each case is different. Does the debate change for example if the young foetus is set to be born into a world of pain and conflict .. can you make that decision .. should you?
User ID not verified.
Back to the main story (rather than the video); I have no idea why the bilboard ads have been banned. It sems perfectly acceptable to me.
User ID not verified.
Chris, to quote from the ASB case report:
ISSUES RAISED: 2.6 – Health and Safety – within prevailing Community Standards
The Advertising Standards Board (“Board”) considered whether this advertisement breaches section 2 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics (the “Code”).
The Board noted the complainants’ concern that the advertisement is offensive, falsely represents medical terminations, is distressing to those who have had an abortion regardless of their reasons for doing so as it implies they are murderers, and features a subject unsuitable for children and which should not be advertised given its sensitive nature.
@Shane, I know what the word holocaust means, but I think that most people when they hear the word, automatically think of the tragedy that occurred in WW2. So when comparing something to the holocaust, people will compare it to Hitler and his regime.
I also agree that there is a better solution with sex ed and contraception, but until everyone is better educated on these, we can’t condemn them for choosing abortion. I would only disagree with abortion when it is used recklessly as a contraception, and not because the parents aren’t capable of looking after the child.
User ID not verified.
When it’s your body it’s your choice. A person who has decided to have an abortion has their own reasons and it only for them to decide and judge. For a group who apparently care about human life they seem ignorant to the pain and stress anti abortion protests can cause women who have had an abortion. Surely there are more important causes effecting the world that they could focus their time and money on.
User ID not verified.
mail@howgoodisthat.org
let them know what you think…
User ID not verified.
Seriously folks, this discussion just validates their strategy, which is to plant the imaginary seed (sorry, that’s probably a bit punny in context and so close to Easter and all). The intention is that women who would have had or have had an abortion will pay enough attention to this stupid video that it will embed itself in their sub-conscious and be something they mull over – to the point of experiencing the guilt it describes.
Like all decisions in life, we make them in specific contexts and they seem right at the time, so they ARE right at the time. This video seeks to revise your memory, to cast that particular decision in a negative light so you’ll regret it.
Be stronger than that. Ignore it or mock it – don’t engage.
User ID not verified.
@ Shane, I agree that ‘Justiofiable reasons’ is ambiguous (sp?) and that was my point, in that what is a justifiable reason for one person may not seem so to another.
So some people may choose to terminate for financial reasons, they can’t afford to raise the child, it will put massive strain on them, they will in turn be (possibly) bad parents because of it. Go to a shopping centre on ‘dole day’ and see some of the ferals with poor kids that will have no hope of growing up to be anything other than like them (a generalisation, but it’s usually the norm, not the exception).
Now wouold I terminate having a child for financial reasons? No way, I’d make it work. But do I look down on someone who would and felt that would be a justifiable reason. No, I wouldn’t, that is their choice based on their own judgement of their situation and circumstance.
So back to the topic of the ad, then to avoid it getting to this situation, right to life groups should be getting their advertising to send the message of better education and not the one they’ve done here, which get pro-choice people enraged and people who are in the middle, off side.
Again, just my opinion.
User ID not verified.
I had an abortion at 15 and i have always believed i made the right choice and not for a second did i regret it. I have had many successful close relationships and a wonderful life and i will one day have a huge family when im ready to be the best mother i can be and provide for my own children. I am so grateful that i had that choice to abort and respect the people that aloud me to do it. I come from a large catholic family and some may not agree but that doesn’t bother me. I hope woman always have a choice and no one should ever be able to change that. If i didn’t have an abortion i strongly believe me and my child would have had a very difficult life!
User ID not verified.
Hi Robin, sincerely, thanks for the further information.
I agree that 1 dead may imply a murder (but it also simply implies the death of something). The few that watched the attached video to the end will know that the heart begins beating within 21 days – what name do you put on an action that stops the heart of “something” beating? Clearly “it” becomes dead, just like pulling a weed from a garden bed.
FYI, yes I am a male. I also was at an abortion clinic 5 years ago the day before the operation was due to occur on my then girlfriend and we had the mandatory chat with the doctor to confirm everyone knew what was going to happen the next day. I understand abortion must occur and will continue occuring, however at all times I was well aware of the reality of what was happening; and that was stopping a heart from beating. Hence, in my eyes, although the phrase ‘1 dead’ may be confrontaional to some, it is also is reality and this topic should not be hidden from children who are old enough to read the wors abortion and understand its meaning..
User ID not verified.
It’s sad when some zelous people contort the words in that very old fairytale we call The Bible to use it to control other people’s lives.
User ID not verified.
Life begins at conception.
User ID not verified.
Abortion is one of the ways to combat galloping over population of this world. It isn’t all about the individual. I think the decision to have one which should be made exclusively by females.
User ID not verified.
Things that aren’t helping: this.
Things that are helping: safe sex education + awareness + support centres.
I am pro-education.
User ID not verified.
@ Jason,
I agree that the protesters out the front are very confronting, however, they know that if one person turns away in shame, fear, judgement, pure harassment, whatever the reason, they know the person is dramatically less likely to rebook a visit.
In their mind, the life is saved. Job done.
I’d say this ad is exactly the same strategy.
I don’t agree with the approach, and I can’t offer a better one.
User ID not verified.
I’d rather there be an abortion than an unwanted child or a child born to mollify prolifers. Too many abused and neglected children in this world for my liking. Will the prolifers be there to raise the kid, provide support,assistance – didn’t think so.
User ID not verified.
Thankyou Shane! This isn’t America John. And people this is an advertising website – stick to the ad.
User ID not verified.
Hi All
The Advertising Standards Board does not take a moral view on advertisements. The Board recently considered two advertisements from this advertiser about Abortion. One (0107/11) advertisement was banned for the reasons someone kindly quoted above. Another (0108/11) was allowed to continue as the manner in which it made a political statement about abortion was considered not to have breached the AANA Code of Ethics.
Regards
Fiona
User ID not verified.
I’m mildly surprised that placing effectively anonymous (political) adverts is legal.
User ID not verified.
I can’t blame them for advertising – if you believe abortion is murder then you will probably present your case strongly.
That said, I am sure it is offensive to many but there is no crime asking people to think again before they have an abortion.
User ID not verified.