San Francisco Residents Demand Mayor Remove ‘Abortion Hurts Women’ Banners

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ — Saturday, January 25 marks the 10th Anniversary of San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast. Each year, the Walk for Life West Coast finds a new way to get its message across in the sometimes-hostile city of San Francisco. In 2009, organizers advertised the event with a billboard on US 80, which was seen by hundreds of thousands of drivers and was effective enough that opponents of the Walk defaced it with paintball guns. In 2010 organizers placed large ads on Golden Gate Transit buses, visible to hundreds of thousands of Bay Area residents. In 2011 it was the “Walk for Life Navy” — a yacht cruising the bay alongside the Walk’s then-route, cheering pro-lifers as they marched.

This year, organizers opted for banners along Market Street, San Francisco’s main thoroughfare, and the Walk’s new route. The banners proclaim the Walk’s message: “Abortion Hurts Women.” The banners went up on December 26, and have been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Media outlets covered the banners when the pro-abortion “Silver Ribbon” campaign demanded that San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee have them removed.

As reported by the December 31 San Francisco Chronicle “A group called Walk for Life West Coast, which is organizing its 10th annual antiabortion march in San Francisco on January 25, has placed 50 banners along Market Street reading ‘Abortion hurts women.’ They will be flying for about a month….The Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust Women wrote a letter to Mayor Ed Lee this week saying the banners contain ‘a false and hateful statement’ and demanded they be removed. Ellen Shaffer, director of the Silver Ribbon Campaign, said she considers the banners hate speech against women….”

Mayor Lee rejected Ms. Shaffer demand, citing the first amendment. But the outrageous demand received coverage in outlets ranging from California Catholic Daily to the left-wing Daily Kos.

Eva Muntean, co-chair of the Walk for Life West Coast said “We are delighted with the publicity our banners have already generated. We urge all people of good will to join us on January 25 as we march in defense of the littlest among us. Our opponents seek to censor our message ‘Abortion Hurts Women,’ not because it is false but because it is true. We invite San Franciscans to attend the rally and Walk so that they may judge for themselves.”

The Walk for Life Rally begins at 12:30PM on January 25 in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza, and the Walk for Life West Coast follows at 1:30PM.