Billboard wrong to knock ‘anti-abortion centers’

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the editor: While home on vacation, I noticed a billboard near the corner of Elm and Newell streets in Pittsfield.

“Avoid anti-abortion centers” it warns. I’ve never heard of an “anti-abortion center.” I can only imagine that it is a term intended to disparage what are commonly referred to as crisis pregnancy centers, places that provide resources to women facing an unexpected pregnancy. According to this billboard, however, those resources are dubbed dangerous “misinformation,” only because these centers do not terminate the life of the child.

Now, a private group has every right to rent a billboard and run attack ads. What surprised me most about this billboard was the website at the bottom: Mass.gov. This is a government- sponsored billboard, paid for with the people’s money. Despite spending most of the year living and working in Brazil, I am still required to pay Massachusetts taxes, meaning the state is using my money to slander its own citizens.

Of all the things the governor’s office could spend my money on, why this? Imagine being vindictive enough to sponsor a PR campaign to discredit organizations that simply want to help vulnerable residents. Imagine being arrogant enough to pay for it with other people’s money, knowing those people have no choice how that money is spent. Imagine being petty enough to place the ad almost directly in front of one of Pittsfield’s historic Catholic churches while knowing the Catholic position on abortion.

This ad campaign is a mean-spirited misuse of state power and a waste of the people’s money.

Ian Bridgman, Brasilia, Brazil

Please log in or subscribe to continue reading the article