CNA Staff, August 8, 2024 / 06:00 am
Two recently launched advertising campaigns illustrate part of the epic conflict between the culture of life and the culture of death that is taking place in this year’s US elections.
Students for Life of America (SFLA), a group that trains and supports pro-lifers in colleges and high schools, launched its “Almost Aborted” campaign this summer, highlighting the stories of people who survived abortion, were conceived through rape or had genetic abnormalities in the womb, as well as women who were pressured to have an abortion.
SFLA organizers said the campaign is a “direct response” to a $200 million pro-abortion advertising campaign by American Bridge that is targeting swing voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the upcoming 2024 elections.
SFLA’s videos and billboards tell the stories of people like Josiah, an abortion victim whose left arm is deformed as a result of an attempted abortion, and Rebecca, who was conceived through rape. The campaign launched in New York’s Times Square in June and includes digital and billboard advertising focused on the swing states of Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri and Arizona.
The SFLA Almost Aborted campaign is the organization’s “largest yet,” reaching a digital audience of 8.1 million people and garnering over 5.1 million views since its launch. Additionally, the organization’s billboard campaign has reached an estimated 18.5 million Americans to date.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also announced that it is in the middle of a seven-figure advertising campaign for “abortion rights” in Wisconsin.
The ACLU, along with the ACLU of Wisconsin, announced a $1.75 million campaign on August 5 to “inform voters about candidates’ positions on abortion rights in the upcoming 2024 Senate and state legislative elections across the state.”
“The ACLU is participating in this election because there is too much at stake in this election – especially the right to life-saving health care,” said Esete Assefa, ACLU chief political counsel, in an August 5 press release.
The Wisconsin campaign is just one part of the ACLU’s $25 million effort to “protect and strengthen fundamental rights in the 2024 elections, with a clear focus on protecting and expanding abortion and voting rights on every ballot.”
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer at the Catholic News Agency and a member of the College Fix. She has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote and is a graduate of Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.
Ken Oliver-Méndez is editor-in-chief of the Catholic News Agency, which provides general interest news to Catholics worldwide through its network of regional correspondents, bureaus and sister services, including ACI Prensa, ACI Stampa, CNA Deutsch, ACI Africa, ACI Afrique, ACI Mena and ACI Digital. A native of Washington, Ken is a journalist by profession. He previously served as director of specialized media for the White House, news editor at NBC Radio and producer of the evening news at Radio Martí, among other positions in journalism and public policy.
