Here’s a letter we received today addressed to Carle Steel, who made me open it because she thought the thickly-stuffed thing was more likely a subpoena than a bundle of cash. Actually this letter was the surprise behind door number three: a three-page essay dismissing the opinions of people who find the awful, fear-mongering, guilt-tripping anti-abortion ads on Regina buses to be shitty, mean and stupid.

An excerpt:

“The thing that you said in your article was that [Advertising Standards Canada] was interested in TRUTh in advertising. Please explain why, when the TRUTh is spoken or displayed in graphic images, the pro-abortion folks want to discredit, call names, even lie or tell half-truths to try and hide the TRUTh. Why? Why do you want silence in the public square? Why do you want legal silence? Why do you want political silence on this issue?”

That’s a lot of questions for a busy guy with dozens of articles to assign and edit but I’ll take a stab at it.

First, where do you get off calling the message you’re supporting the truth? Sorry, “TRUTh” (and what’s up with capitalizing every letter but the “H”???) I saw one of these bus ads, the top of my head blew off and I assigned the story. I was mad because the only “TRUTh” I saw was a manipulative advertisement with three panels: two pictures of a developing fetus and a third panel that was all back. The caption for the three panels was “growing, growing, gone”. There’s no facts, there’s no “TRUTh“, there’s just a slimy message supporting your cause: namely, that women shouldn’t have abortions (and probably shouldn’t be allowed to, is what I suspect you really think but you know better than to write that).

Second: why do people try to discredit anti-abortioners and call them names? Frankly you discredit yourselves. But we call you names because your ideas are idiotic, archaic and uncivilized and you’re pushing them on vulnerable people with your wicked propaganda. And you’re clearly not powerless: you’ve elected a federal government that is doing the most it can to restrict women’s reproductive rights without losing the next election — just look at the funds they’ve cut to women’s groups recently, or the stink leading up to the G8 summit. Or how about MP Brad Trost’s petition to defund Planned Parenthood? Clearly you’re not the underdogs and victims you paint yourselves as.

I’d have some pity for you if you weren’t dangerous and if your ideas weren’t undermining women’s health, freedom and equality.

This is a world with real problems like poverty, homelessness, child hunger, racism, misogyny,  unemployment, domestic violence, huge gaps between the rich and the poor, human-inflicted environmental destruction,  etc. etc. And yet you and your ilk direct a ridiculous amount of energy and cash in defence of proto-human zygotes.

I’ve seen anti-abortionists lobby against abortion access, sex education and birth control. I’ve seen them throw out loaded anecdotes to defend their positions, from abortion = racism to abortion is unfair to women. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of you Samaritans care more about fetuses than you do about people. And I think that makes you ignorant jerks with freaky, medieval hang-ups.

What? You want a parade or something?

Finally, if I wanted silence in the public square I would ignore crazy, damaged people rather than poking them. You suck. Poke.

Hugs and kisses,

Steve

(Editor)