Written by The speaker acknowledged that the pro-life activists have a right to present such images to adults in an effort to illustrate the controversy of abortion, but that the use of the street corner also exposed the images to children who could be confused, stunned, and/or traumatized by such pictures.
The speaker asked the city to look into options for protecting kids from the images. The council referred the topic to the administration (mayor, city attorney, and staff) for a recommedation.
The speaker chose not to show the images to the public last night (because kids may be watching the TV broadcast, but the images can easily be found on the internet with a google Image search on the term “anti-abortion”. Here is a link to such a search, but before you click be prepared that the images might upset you. (link )
I think the city may be able to partially manage the size and placement of the signs, to the degree that they are an obstruction or a traffic hazzard, but we are unlikely to be able to do anything about the content because of first ammendment protections.
What do you readers think about this?
To get you thinking, here is an article from the Redwood City Daily News, about the City of San Mateo California mulling this issue.
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Apr 29, 2007
Graphic photos spur city response
Parents say shocking anti-abortion images in San Mateo are traumatizing children
San Mateo City Attorney Shawn Mason is exploring what the city can do to address people’s concerns about anti-abortion activist Ross Foti’s habit of displaying graphic pictures near St. Matthew Catholic School.
Foti uses poster-size images of aborted babies, Jesus and other religious symbols to protest five days a week at San Mateo Planned Parenthood on Palm Avenue. The posters are mounted on his truck, which he parks outside the church most Thursdays when he goes there to pray. Children see the graphic pictures when their parents drop them off for school at the parish.
Mason said the parents have lobbied the city to intervene.
“I’ve been candid with the parents that his activity certainly involves significant issues regarding the First Amendment and free speech,” Mason said. “We are concerned. We share the concerns of parents about the impact these images have on children.
“I would not recommend that the city take any action unless we were very comfortable and confident that we were not violating his First Amendment rights.”
Mason said he expects to have a better idea about the city’s options within the next month.
Parents say the pictures have traumatized their children. They met with Foti and St. Matthew officials earlier this week in an effort to resolve their differences. They have asked him to at least cover the truck-mounted posters.
“We really want this resolved and obviously he is not going to do this on his own accord,” said Jan Brown, a parent of a fourth-grader at St. Matthew. “We thought he would have a change of heart and he is not going to, so we need to find other options.”
Brown said her son dreads going to school on Thursdays because of the posters.
Foti has said he would cover his posters if the church’s clergy agreed to talk about abortion at least once a month during Sunday Mass. He said he would also like his fellow parishioners to protest with him, but that would not be a condition of covering up the posters.
“It’s something that should be done,” Foti said of his request that abortion be discussed at Mass. “It’s not blackmail.”
Rev. Anthony McGuire said abortion is something the church talks about and he does not believe it is appropriate to invite the parishioners to protest with Foti.
“We certainly are against abortion,” said Ken Boegel, the principal at St. Matthew Catholic School. “It really comes down to the effect those poster have on the children.”
But Foti has successfully defended his protesting practices in other cities, and he parks his truck in a public area by the church. In 1998, a federal court ruled in his favor when Menlo Park tried to quash his anti-abortion tactics at a clinic.
“A lot of people use these posters and we get complaints, and we deal with them,” said Katie Short, Foti’s attorney with the nonprofit Life Legal Defense Foundation. “You could ban obscenity, defamation or something like that, but just the idea of (banning) something that is graphic or upsetting is not going to work.”
http://www.redwoodcitydailynews.com/article/2007-4-29-sm-foti-folo
I find the posters in extremely poor taste, and don’t believe that they’re going to change anyone’s mind- they’re just scare tactics that use unnecessarily upsetting imagery to bully people into being pro-life. There are much better ways to bolster their argument than pissing off the general public.
I agree
Although I strongly agree with the protestor’s anti-abortion position, I also stronly disagree with this particular tactic!
ince I live close to Valley medical I see that sign sometimes, the lady who holds them is usually there around 8 in the morningish or so I believe. Since I’m at school now during that time I havn’t seen it lately, but when I was a kid in elementary school we passed her everyday on the school bus and I remember our bus driver got incredibly mad one day that we all were seeing that so now she atleast turns the sign around when there is a school bus.
Not too long ago I was going to the doctors at valley and I saw her and my mom was saying how one day she just decided to ask her why she holds up those signs. My mom didn’t say too many details but the basic gist was that the lady believes those are the only images that will get into peoples minds nad actually affect them and she really isn’t too willing to stop or change what she has been doing. She’s been doing that almost everyday since I moved to this area about 13 years ago and who knows how long before that.
I personally am getting really sick of this tactic she is using to protest this issue and I don’t think is truly accomplishing anything by standing on a corner with a graphic sign everyday that most people turn their eyes away from anyway.