Little Truck of Horrors

Little truck of horrors

Dare I even write this post?

I take the bus to work. I walk 1 block from the bus to my building. Today, in that time, I was assaulted with an 8 foot x 10 foot billboard on the side of a truck. The image on the billboard was that of an aborted foetus in a pool of blood lying next to a nickel. The foetus was no bigger than the nickel. It took my mind roughly 1 minute to process and clearly distinguish the image. I saw the nickel right away but could not place what all the red and fleshy images were. When I finally realised WHAT I was looking at I stopped in my tracks almost slamming into the person behind me. I’m sure that my mouth was hanging open. My eyes followed the truck as it turned the corner, mouth agape, staring in shock. I looked around at the other people on the side walk. No one else was looking. No one else appeared to have even noticed. I just kept staring at this truck as it drove off and I lost it to the throng of traffic.

I have since looked into this vehicle and found the article linked above that was published in the FFWD (read Fast Forward) weekly August 9th, 2007. Apparently this lovely truck is a product of The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR).

Now, I understand completely the gravity of the pro-life/pro-choice debate. I just don’t think that the unsuspecting public, meandering off to their daily grind, should be assaulted and bludgeoned with such imagery.

In the FFWD weekly, the writer of the article, Jennifer Wiley, notes that Executive Director of the CCBR, Stephanie Gray says the trucks are meant to target an “older audience wherever possible, but in this case, parents will have to use discretion and possibly use a truck sighting as an opportunity to teach their children about what abortion is.” Now, I’m sorry, but picture THIS!

You are walking down town with your 11 year old son, who is slowly starting to become an adult. He asks adult questions, he says he wants to start shaving (even though he doesn't have to), he wants to watch all the old movies that scared him as a kid so that he can “face his fears”, but mostly he is starting to see things differently. He is asking ADULT questions.

“Hey Ssej?”
(Pronounced Sedge. That’s what he calls me, Jess backwards, I’m his Quasi mom)

“What’s on the side of that truck?” or “Why is there a dead thing on the side of that truck?”

You know, I don’t know exactly WHAT he would ask me but I would not have a clue as to what to tell him. A bad picture? An advertisement? I don’t know? Regardless of our exact word for word conversation, I would NOT use the image on that truck as an opportunity to talk to my son about ABORTION!

Stephanie Gray - “Until women are more horrified with abortion than they are currently terrified of a crisis pregnancy situation, they are going to go to the abortion clinic every time. I think people will be really surprised by the trucks, because it is something they haven’t seen before. But if there is nothing wrong with abortion, the images shouldn't bother them.”

I am honestly PISSED at this!

I am pro-choice. I think there are far too many children being mistreated by mothers, fathers, parents who never wanted them, can’t afford to take care of them or shouldn't even be allowed to have children. I think there are far too many situations in which women become pregnant, not by choice, and are then in no position to raise a child alone. I realllllllly don’t want this post to turn into an abortion debate but the comment that “if there is nothing wrong with abortion, the images shouldn't bother them.” seems completely asinine. There is nothing wrong with people dying of natural causes either but I don’t go around showing giant billboard photos of the elderly after they have died from a stroke or a heart attack or simply passed away of old age. I personally don’t like the Catholic Church and the pedophilia that seems to run rampant within the church but I don’t post giant billboards of young boys being molested to bring the issue to the attention of the masses.

To Stephanie Gray – There are some things that I, as Jane Q Public, should not be FORCED to see. I understand that you want the issue to be addressed, but frankly, fuck you. I don’t need a dead foetus to set me off and ruin my day! This kind of imagery is something that can be used in anti – abortion presentations where in the audience is consenting.

On the CCBR web site there is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Abortion Imagery in CCBR Presentations. I really did not want to link to this site but I see the hypocrisy already.

Question #2

2. Will the audience be warned about the imagery?

Yes. CCBR speakers inform the audience, within the presentation, prior to showing the graphic abortion imagery. Individuals are told how they can avoid looking at the images (by closing one’s eyes or looking down) if they choose not to watch. Furthermore, where the facility layout permits, lights are turned down so others in the audience are not aware if an individual avoids watching. Finally, there is no sound besides instrumental music, so the audience also will not even hear any sounds related to the abortion procedure.



How come I was not warned?



I think I’m done ranting about this issue. I don’t see how bombarding the unsuspecting public with graphic imagery is the way to convert people to your cause. I’ll play the devil’s advocate. Why not consider the children walking down the street who will have the image of a foetus burned into their memories, confused about the whole issue.

!