Abortion Activists Want Kansas City Royals to Ban a Pro-Life Commercial During Its Baseball Games

State   |   Kathy Ostrowski   |   Jun 5, 2017   |   7:30PM   |   Kansas City, MO

Under the heading, “Kansas City Royals, stop lying about abortion,” an online petition group, Ultraviolet, is currently urging its followers to contact the baseball team to “cut ties with the Vitae Foundation” for “promoting extreme anti-choice propaganda” to women and children.

This pro-abortion campaign comes on the heels of a successful campaign to censor pro-life ads on a local radio station at the behest of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

But, as usual, it is the pro-abortionists doing the bullying who are untruthful.

First, about the Kansas City Royals. …

On Friday, the Kansas City Star covered a petition against the Royals, and described the source as “a national women’s advocacy group,” Ultraviolet.

Ultraviolet is actually an online petition group supporting abortion among a variety of liberal causes. The group began in 2015 and is guided by former staff from MoveOn.org.

The Vitae Foundation, on the other hand, is a highly respected, Kansas City area non-profit, formed 25 years ago to “encourage a culture of life through research-based messaging and mass media.” The mission of Vitae (the Latin term “for Life”) is to “encourage dialog in a non-threatening manner.”

Ultraviolet’s outrage is aimed at radio ad buys during Royals’ broadcasts, and a sponsorship that allows an announcement about Vitae Foundation and a foundation logo shown on the scoreboard.

The ‘offending’ electronic scoreboard on the Ultraviolet website petition is last year’s image, which is as subtle and inoffensive as the new one. The 2017 display is a photo of a mom gazing at a baby with this message: “VITAE Celebrating Our 25th Anniversary of Life-Saving Media /A Real Game Changer.”

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What exactly is the dangerous propaganda in that display which is unfit for baseball fans?

“Vitae has similar [promotional] agreements with other sports properties and media outlets,” the Royals’ spokesman told the Star.

The Star, referencing an Ultraviolet press release (not found online at press time) also cited another of Vitae’s supposed offenses– sponsorship of a pro-life essay contest with the winners receiving Royals’ tickets.

Baseball tickets as an incentive? Insert faux shudder.

Vitae issued a statement Friday on the controversy: “If a woman in a difficult pregnancy makes the courageous decision to bring her child into the world, Vitae believes she should have meaningful support in making that decision.”

But abortion supporters cannot tolerate support for a “choice” for life in the public venue of a sports arena.

ANOTHER ANTI-LIFE CAMPAIGN
The campaign to end advertisements for the pro-life Vitae Foundation follows Planned Parenthood’s unfortunately successful censoring of low-key ads for Advice & Aid Pregnancy Center on the alternative radio station “96.5 the Buzz.” According to the Sentinel, the station had sought out Advice and Aid to become a sponsor and contracted for 328 ads. This was the ad:

“Feeling scared? Depressed? Vulnerable? Is pregnancy making you feel that life is over? Advice and Aid Pregnancy Centers will help you regardless of your struggle. You have access to a 24-hour hotline, pregnancy tests, sonograms, peer counseling and STI testing, all free of charge. Advice & Aid Pregnancy Centers is here to support you as you make your decision. Advice & Aid Pregnancy Centers — serving families facing pregnancy before, during and after with compassion.”

Only two ads were run, on May 12 & 13, before the campaign was suddenly ended.

“Before the campaign had even gotten off the ground, a local Planned Parenthood affiliate, part of the nation’s largest abortion provider, objected,” according to the Sentinel. “Its staffers took to social media asking the radio station to pull the ads.”

The radio station’s turnaround came after Planned Parenthood Great Plains posted this on its Facebook page:

“Advice and Aid, an anti-choice extremist group that operates under the guise of a health center, is now advertising on 96.5 The Buzz, KC’s alternative radio station. Let’s help The Buzz understand why Advice & Aid is dangerous for their listeners. Tell the radio station to reject these advertising dollars.”

Advice and Aid executive director Ruth Tisdale told the Sentinel that from the outset, the radio station sales reps were clearly aware of the center’s operation and the abundant medical staff. The sales reps visited the center, “knew our website inside and out,” and “were thrilled that we would advertise on the station.” However “the campaign was ultimately removed, and the contract abruptly canceled.”

The Sentinel added that Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Communications Director, “was interviewed by Buzz on-air personality Lazlo, host of “The Church of Lazlo,” for a podcast. The nine-minute segment was chock full of factual errors about Advice & Aid and contained the typical inaccurate list of talking points perpetrated by Planned Parenthood whenever they attempt to discredit the work of pregnancy resource centers. The only accurate fact Lee-Gilmore stated was that the two businesses are next door to each other.”

Aye, there’s the rub. Advice and Aid is right there when women drive up to Planned Parenthood in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park.

The for-profit abortion business is desperate to squash the option for life that they see every day out their window.

LifeNews.com Note: Kathy Ostrowski is the Policy and Research Director for Kansans for Life, the state affiliate to the National Right to Life Committee.