A new anti-abortion billboard campaign is set to make an appearance in Los Angeles soon. The billboards are an almost word-for-word copy of the controversial Heroic Media campaign targeting African-American women.
This latest campaign, however, targets Latinas. The billboards feature the silhouette of a baby with the words, “the most dangerous place for a Latino is in the womb” featured in English and Spanish next to the image. The Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles is claiming ownership of these particular billboards.
The campaign is set to be launched at a “pro-life event called ‘Unidos por la Vida’ (United for Life) Sunday at the LA Sports Arena. The gathering will be sponsored by the pro-life Latino group Manto de Guadalupe,” according to The Daily Caller.
Minority reproductive rights advocates have started calling the campaign “racist” and “deeply offensive.”
The National Latina Institute issued a press release today denouncing the billboards. The group says, “These offensive billboards are nothing more than political ploys designed to stigmatize Latina women and communities of color and restrict access to reproductive health care.”
Loretta Ross, the National Coordinator for SisterSong, tells The Florida Independent that the billboards are a “vicious attack on Latinas.” SisterSong worked with NARAL to have Heroic Media’s billboard campaign targeting African-American women taken down. The group has a successful history of bringing down race-based anti-abortion campaigns.
Ross says the group will definitely fight to have these billboards brought down once the campaign is launched.
“We have been fighting these billboards for a while,” she says. “These groups are shameless in the way they attack abortion through the bodies of women of color. We are just outraged by these racist campaigns.”
Ross also suspects that Heroic Media might have their hand in this campaign, as well. She says this campaign is a “signature move of Heroic Media and their $5 million war chest.” Currently, the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles is claiming ownership, but Ross says Heroic tends to find a local group to partner with.
Heroic Media’s founder, Brian Follett, is on record saying that the Los Angeles area was among the locations where he “aspires for Heroic to expand.”
Heroic Media/Life Always was reached for comment but has yet to respond.
Ross says SisterSong will continue to fight these campaigns, which aim to “shame and guilt-trip” women of color.
