Abortion photo tour hits Akron
By Cheryl Powell
© 2002 Beacon Journal

Rush-hour motorists, be warned.

Two 8-by-22-foot rolling billboards displaying extremely graphic photos of aborted fetuses are expected to travel state Route 8 and interstates 76 and 77 in and around Akron this morning and afternoon.

The trucks, which critics are calling ``deplorable,'' will cruise through downtown Akron during the rush hour today and head to Canton on Thursday.

The tour is the latest attempt by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, an anti-abortion group based in California, to put its cause in people's faces.

``Our experience is that most people, when they see the trucks, react the way that we want, which is shock or dismayed,'' said Mark Harrington, executive director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform's Midwest region. ``They're very disturbed by it, and they should be disturbed.''

The group has been making headlines nationwide since it took to the roads last year with trucks.

Each photo on the trucks' sides and rear shows a fetus that the group says came from a first-trimester abortion. The trucks all have the word, ``choice,'' in capital letters, as well as a phone number to call for comments or more information.

Harrington said other movements in the past, including anti-Vietnam protesters and anti-child labor reform organizers, also used disturbing photos to get support for their cause.

But Roberta Aber, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Summit, Portage and Medina counties, said the ``extreme'' method alienates people rather than winning them over.

``Reasoned debate about abortion is always in order,'' she said. ``But when you're dealing with people who will resort to these kinds of unreasonable tactics, then it's too bad any of us have to waste our time dealing with it.''

Young children, particularly, could be frightened and disturbed by these graphic images, said Dr. Lolita M. McDavid, medical director of child advocacy and protection at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

McDavid recommended parents try to avoid areas where the trucks are traveling. If that's not possible, she said, try to distract the children and answer their questions as simply as possible.

``I don't think that children should be subjected to anything that's scary that they cannot process,'' she said. ``Whenever you do something that's very frightening to someone who doesn't have the ability to process it, it's an abusive act.''

But Harrington said the tour is necessary, even if it offends.

``Even though we're concerned for the emotional reaction of children and others,'' he said, ``we can't allow that to dictate how we're going to get our message across.''

This isn't the first time the group has used graphic photos to get attention.

Three years ago, the group started showing photos on college campuses of aborted fetuses, victims of the Holocaust and victims of lynchings.

It also has started towing the graphic photos behind airplanes on busy beaches nationwide.

``It's only going to get worse,'' he said. ``We are going to continue to bother the American people until they change the way they behave.''