Another Successful Advertising Campaign
By Carroll Rees

The national advertising campaign on the link between abortion and breast cancer which was sponsored by many local and provincial educational pro-life organizations and coordinated by LifeCanada is just winding up. 
           
Almost thirty ads appeared on transit shelters, billboards, city buses and even a bus bench in Canadian cities.  The ads also ran in local newspapers in many cities.  This has generated much interest in some areas.  In Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, a group of women lobbied the municipal government, the Advertising Standards of Canada, and the Pattison Outdoor sign company to have the billboard sign removed (pictured in this article).  The local community paper quoted mayor Don MacLean who said that he “finds the ad distasteful”.  The ad remained up for the whole campaign despite these efforts.  In fact, the controversy helped us reach even more people since it resulted in much media interest and a story on the early and late CTV evening news. 
           
The message Why wasn’t I told? was prominently displayed on the back of four buses in Woodstock, Ontario.  This meant that more people had an opportunity to see the ad since it was driven from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.  The result was a guest column in the local newspaper and a flurry of letters to the editor, some supportive and others not. 
           
Thousands of Canadians logged on to the AbortionBreastCancer.ca website throughout October and November and viewed the information for themselves.  The number of hits to the website was up fourfold in October and threefold in November.  The number of visitors to the website in early December continued to be higher than normal.  Emails to the office this year have been less confrontational and more focused on obtaining more information.  This may be because the breast cancer research groups did not respond with a ridiculous threat to sue us for using the pink ribbon as they did during the 2005 campaign.  The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation has applied to register their logo and pink ribbon as their trademark.  If they are successful, we would no longer be able to use the pink ribbon in our advertising campaigns.  LifeCanada has applied for legal copyright status for our ads to protect our right to use them to promote this life saving message. 
           
Our hope is that women will be told before they agree to have an abortion that choosing abortion could increase their risk of developing breast cancer later in life.  Women who have undergone an abortion procedure also need to be told about the risk so they can seek regular and early breast screening to protect their health.  Early detection and diagnosis leads to a better outcome and a better chance for a full recovery. 
           
LifeCanada contacted the major cancer research organizations in Canada to request a meeting to discuss our opposing views on the link between abortion and breast cancer.  These organizations claim that the evidence is “inconclusive”.  We would like an opportunity to discuss the medical and scientific evidence which has lead researchers such as Dr. Joel Brind to conclude that induced abortion increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.  We were told, in a September phone call from a representative of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, that the major cancer research organizations meet together three or four times a year in Toronto and were asked if we would agree to meet with them all at once.  We said yes.  They were supposed to discuss our request at the next meeting and get back to us.  We have not heard from them.
           
This is the second time that we have invited representatives from cancer research groups to discuss the link between induced abortion and breast cancer.  The first was in May 2006 when LifeCanada co-hosted a public information meeting on Parliament Hill with speaker Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a breast surgeon from New Jersey.  Invitations were sent to all the major research groups in Ottawa and Toronto.  They chose not to attend.  This is very disappointing since they continue to cite theories or studies which have been discredited when disagreeing with us. 
           
In the US, officials from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation met with Colorado Right to Life officials to discuss Denver’s Race for the Cure.  Joining the pro-life representatives were Eve Sanchez Silver, a breast cancer survivor who resigned from Komen over this issue, and Dr. Joel Brind, an international expert on the link between abortion and increased breast cancer risk (by conference call).  Dr. Brind reviewed the medical and scientific evidence and explained why certain studies cited to show that the evidence is inconclusive are seriously flawed.  After the meeting, Ms. Silver concluded that Komen’s officials “did not appear to have knowledge of simple breast facts and were more concerned about assisting women after they had contracted breast cancer, than informing them to avoid breast cancer risk by avoiding abortions…”  The same may  also be true in Canada.

ABC ad campaign goes international           

LifeCanada has been approached by pro-life organizations in New Zealand and the United States to consider making our ad campaign and the AbortionBreastCancer.ca website available internationally.  We have agreed and New Zealand has now signed on.  An advertisement appeared in New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times on November 19, 2006 which prominently displayed LifeCanada’s website.  The number of hits from New Zealand and Australia increased as a result of this ad. 

Carroll Rees is the Executive Director of LifeCanada.