Family & Life

Pro-Abortion Activists See Red over Family & Life Pro-Life Cinema Ad : 10th Oct 07

“Very Mild and Very Positive” Pro-Life Cinema Ad to Counteract Culture in Favour of Legalising Abortion in Ireland

According to an “Irish Examiner” newspaper report, pro-abortion advocates are up in arms over the new Family & Life pro-life cinema ad. Pro-life cinema advertisements encouraging women to “choose the positive option” have been branded as “irresponsible” and “manipulative” by an Irish pro-abortion organisation.

The ads, which were placed with advertising syndication company Carlton Screen Advertising, were produced and paid for by pro-life organisation Family & Life and have been running very successfully in cinemas throughout Ireland since June. Reaction so far to the ad has been hugely positive.

The ad depicts a family in a park setting where a mother is pushing her son on a swing and looking at the empty one beside his, apparently longingly wishing the seat was not empty. A voiceover says: “Not all the choices we make are good for us or for others”, after which a young girl appears on the empty swing, and the mother begins to smile as the scene bursts from grey to colour. The voiceover then says “Choose the positive option, choose life…life is precious.” To see ad: CLICK TO READ MORE.....

Sinead Ahern of Choice Ireland, a pro-abortion lobby group, said the ad showed “a complete disregard for human life and is trying to trick women into a decision using emotive advertising that will not only affect the rest of her life, but the rest of the child’s life too”. Ms Ahern said while she supported an individual’s right to speak out against abortion, she said the ad was “irresponsible” by portraying the woman in a stable relationship with other children. “The ad fails to take into consideration the non-ideal circumstances where it would be financially crippling or emotionally destructive for a young woman to have a child.”

David Manly of Family & Life—the organisation behind the ad—defended the ad and said he was surprised it has been met with anger, as he believes the ad to be “very mild and very positive”. “We are running the ad because we are concerned we are living in a culture that is inevitably going to be very much in favour of legalising abortion in Ireland and this is to counteract that culture”.The Irish Examiner. September 26.

Family & Life's David Manly Responds—"There Are Other Options Rather Than Taking a Life"

In a letter to "The Irish Examiner", David Manly said:" It is hard to know where to start when a gentle 18-second message about motherhood and positive choices is branded as 'irresponsible', “manipulative” and showing 'a complete disregard for human life' Have we reached a stage when even showing motherhood is 'controversial'?

Family & Life’s cinema advertisement took great pains to avoid offence. The A-word is never mentioned, there is no effort to shock, and its message is solely directed at adults.

Its critics have much to say about choice. They seem to have forgotten that parenthood is much more than a consumer choice.

One of the fallacies of the 'right to abortion' movement is to pretend that motherhood can be reversed by abortion. Buying a house or a car is a choice that can be reversed, although often with no little expense and pain. Not so with motherhood. Motherhood is not in the same category.

In recent years medical science has revealed how comprehensively pregnancy soon after conception engages a mother physically and psychologically like no other experience. Abruptly terminating a pregnancy carries serious risks that may not be immediately apparent but are nonetheless real. It can hardly be otherwise.

Of course, there are times when having a child is 'non-ideal', yet there are other options that do not involve the taking of a life." The Irish Examiner. October 6. CLICK TO READ MORE.....

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Family & Life

Pro-Abortion Activists See Red over Family & Life Pro-Life Cinema Ad : 10th Oct 07

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