Anti-abortion display hits the road
By Rowena Coetsee
© 2001 CONTRA COSTA TIMES

"That's disgusting! You have no right!" she rails, incensed by the larger-than-life, bloody photographs, purportedly of aborted embryos and fetuses, splashed along the sides and back of the vehicle.

She retreats only when an armed security guard pulls up in his car and warns the woman over a loudspeaker to step away from the truck parked in a shopping center parking lot.

After nearly six months of cruising California freeways with his fleet of moving billboards, Cunningham's seen plenty of hostile reactions to his in-your-face tactics, and he doesn't blink an eye as he and another truck slowly pull into Interstate 680's rush-hour traffic Monday morning.

Cunningham, 54, is executive director and founder of the Center for Bioethical Reform, an anti-abortion, nonprofit Anaheim group that he founded in July 1990.

He gave up his career as an assistant U.S. attorney to devote himself to the cause. He also was elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature in the late 1970s for two terms.

Small convoys of trucks will circle the Bay Area for the next two weeks during peak morning commutes when motorists are most likely to get an eyeful.

Painted on the trucks' sides are huge images of what appear to be tiny bodies that Cunningham's organization contends were aborted during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Cunningham does not tolerate accusations that he uses doctored or otherwise inaccurate photographs. He serves critics with written warnings of a lawsuit attached to documents attesting to the authenticity of every image.

The images are a potent weapon against abortion, he said.

"Once they've given it a glance, it's in their heads and we've accomplished our purpose. This is psychological warfare. We do not fight fair. We're right in your windshield."

The goal is to prick the public conscience, to force people to acknowledge that abortion is not an abstract concept but the violent death of a human being, he said.

Calling the trucks a "sensationalistic demonstration," a Planned Parenthood official said accurate information on birth control -- not gore -- will help reduce the number of abortions.

"Let's face it -- the real purpose of this kind of demonstration is to stir up emotions," said Mitzi Sales, vice president for external affairs at Planned Parenthood's regional headquarters in Concord.

It would be more sensible for people such as Cunningham to spend their time and money disseminating contraceptive information to obviate the need for abortions in the first place, Sales said.

Cunningham said he took his crusade on the road after encountering stiff resistance from those controlling the conventional methods of mass communication.

Radio talk-show hosts have tried to silence him by hanging up on him, keeping him on hold while callers railed against him or cutting him off in midsentence, he said

"Three words into my answer I get shouted down," he said.

After reading about the ever-increasing volume of traffic in the United States, Cunningham realized the nation's transportation system was the ideal way reach a captive audience.

"You can't hang up on (trucks), you can't shout (them) down," he said.

To protect themselves against those who might take more drastic actions, Cunningham and his helpers wear bullet-resistant vests, are flanked by armed guards and have multiple video cameras running.

For the most part, Monday's motorcade drew curious stares and double-takes. On the Bay Bridge a motorist honked at the trucks, then made an obscene gesture.

But the flak doesn't come only from secular quarters.

The reaction of the Christian community has "essentially been negative," Cunningham said, contending that many believers minimize the effects of abortion either out of guilt over having had the procedure themselves or because they haven't done more to stop it.

His ultimate goal is to enact a constitutional amendment that prohibits abortion, which was legalized in the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

Before the anti-abortion movement can succeed, however, it must make the practice unthinkable, and this is the first step, he said.

It's a goal Cunningham believes his supporters can reach if they just apply themselves.

"Radical evil often seems intractable, but the reality is that it's not if you are willing to fight it," he said.

Reach Rowena Coetsee at 925-779-7141 or rcoetsee@cctimes.com.