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Is this woman pregnant with Metrobus’ baby?
Yesterday, I hopped on a 90 Metrobus in the hopes of escaping the downpour. Little did I know that the unsuspecting bus I was boarding was actually an anti-abortion vehicle of shame!
The bus was wallpapered, front to back, on both sides, with this “FREE Abortion Alternatives” Ad, pictured. The ad, for a local crisis pregnancy center, offers free pregnancy tests, counseling, and “services” to pregnant women at four D.C.-area locations. Also on the menu: A good shaming! The woman’s numb, downturned face says it all: “You’re lost. You’re confused. You’re thinking about killing a tiny human. We can help.”
Go ahead, try to look away: You’ll still have to look at another identical forlorn future abortionist!
Blogger Kat of “This is Everything” boarded a shame bus last month (she also snapped the photo). “Ick,” she wrote. “[I] pondered whether it would even be worth it to get off the bus (I decided against it since I had already paid the fare.. they have my money so no big deal whether I’m on the bus for six more blocks or not).”
Crisis Pregnancy Centers have a well-documented history of preying on the vulnerable, misrepresenting their legitimacy (what are these “services”?), and passing anti-abortion rhetoric as medical advice. In other words, not exactly what the women of D.C. need.
I know Metro likes to go all-out with its advertisements. And hey, I don’t like being bombarded with Obama-themed Pepsi ads either. But the all-or-nothing approach can be a good thing—-last January, it helped underpaid Washington Post post-production workers gain traction in their WashingtonPostUnfair.com campaign. And I’ve spied many Metro ads in the past encouraging D.C. citizens to get tested and treatment for HIV.
But when ad bombardments are targeted specifically on a captive audience of economically vulnerable women, they can be outright threatening. Kat writes: “I totally understand how crucial advertisements are as a form of revenue and financial support for WMATA . . . [but] ultimately I feel it is irresponsible of Metro to run ads for a company, foundation, or organization that deliberately jeopardizes women’s health through misinformation and lacks respect for their autonomy.”
Until the ads are replaced, Kat plans to voice her disapproval of the ad to WMATA. While I’m not sure this “Metro Customer Comment Form” will get us anywhere, you can give it a try here.
Photo via This is Everything.