Catholics promptly denounced California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a billboard advertising campaign, calling it “unconscionable” and “blasphemous” and enticing women to fly to his state for abortions.
Why such a strong response? The abortion-promoting advertisements have the following verse:
Need to abort? The statement that will be posted throughout the roadways in Indiana and Oklahoma states, “California is ready to assist.”
The advertisements quote Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Mark: “Love your neighbour as yourself,” in smaller writing. These are the greatest commandments, according to Mark 12:31.
According to Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, “it is inexcusable that these commercials use Scripture to encourage abortion, especially in places that have already drastically reduced abortion in favour of defending life.”
She said that our governor’s funding of advertisements in other states is nothing more than a political gimmick. It is virtue signalling to claim that California’s extraordinarily lax abortion regulations are preferable to those of red and purple states that have passed abortion restrictions.
This November, Democratic candidate Newsom is anticipated to be re-elected as governor of California. He revealed seven variations of the pro-abortion advertisements on September 15 that will go on billboards in seven states with abortion restrictions.
The advertisements, which include a state-run abortion access website, say that they were funded by Newsom’s mayoral campaign. As of June 30, his campaign committee had about $24 million in cash on hand, according to documents posted on the California Secretary of State’s website.
According to Domingo, using the Bible to support abortion is deceptive.
She told CNA, “If we genuinely loved our neighbour as ourselves, we would want the best for our neighbour, which includes true comprehensive support services to ensure that no mother or father is deceived or pushed into terminating a child’s life, and that no mother or father walks their parenting path alone.
She continued by saying that in Newsom’s own state, fundamental requirements are not being provided.
In addition to offering abortions, Domingo said that California actively promotes abortion as a viable option for women. “Promoting the brutality of abortion doesn’t address any of the pressing issues that numerous families are experiencing in California, where families are fighting to put food on the table, pay rent, and petrol money on the table.”
Several Catholic dioceses in California, Mississippi, and Oklahoma were contacted by CNA for comment, but no answer was received in time for publication.
The commercials “commit blasphemy by co-opting Sacred Scripture in service of abortion,” according to Chris Check, head of the California-based apologetics group Catholic Answers.
The previous Bible passage, where Jesus states that you must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, should be the foundation for the scriptural citation, according to Check, who wrote a commentary for Catholic Answers on September 21.
Other scriptures highlighted by Check emphasised the need of taking care of widows and orphans. He said that a lady who has been dumped by her spouse or lover is similar to a widow, while an undesired kid is similar to an orphan.
Abortion has been condemned by Christianity from its inception. The Catholic Church’s Catechism states that “the Church has proclaimed the moral evil of every induced abortion from the first century.”
Abortion, according to Pope Francis, is a component of a “throwaway society” that also rejects people who are in need.
As for Newsom, he has called abortion restrictions “un-American” in his political rhetoric. According to him, his Republican adversaries are “actually murdering women.”
On September 15, Newsom said, “The notion that these Republican legislators are wanting to ‘defend life’ is a complete joke.” They want to take away the freedom of their supporters by limiting and controlling them.
The billboard advertisements for Newsom link to a California abortion access website that provides details on the process as well as financial help. On the website, there is information about telemedicine and getting abortion pills by mail. It offers information for certain demographics, such as those under the age of 18, those who reside outside of California, immigrants, and those who are undocumented.
The website also criticises crisis pregnancy clinics that don’t provide abortions, claiming that they can spread “false, medically incorrect material” to persuade women against getting an abortion. It includes links to a California Department of Justice notice and a Planned Parenthood blog article concerning pregnancy centres. Crisis pregnancy clinics “do not offer complete reproductive healthcare,” according to the warning, which seeks to differentiate them from “reproductive healthcare institutions.”
Seven of the states with the “most draconian” anti-abortion legislation, according to Newsom, will broadcast the advertisements. The advertisements “show how women may obtain care — no matter where they reside,” in the governor’s opinion.
He stated, “(California) would defend your right to make choices about your own health to any woman seeking an abortion in these anti-freedom states.
Additionally, billboard advertisements are planned for Texas, South Dakota, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, and Ohio. These states “don’t own your body,” the advertisements inform prospective readers. You Do.” Some of these advertisements feature the back of a white-dressed lady with her wrists bound behind her.
These five advertisements still link to the abortion webpage for the State of California but exclude the quotation from the New Testament.
The advertisements, according to Catholic pundit Check, need to inspire dread, prayer, and action.
“These blasphemies of Gavin Newsom and the other leaders of California should fill us with terror,” said Check, who also expressed concern for others he may influence. “Fear for him, of course, whose soul is in severe danger of a doom too awful to conceive.”
He urged people to pray for both the governor and the Catholic bishop in Newsom. Along with supporting the work of crisis pregnancy centres, pro-life sidewalk counsellors outside abortion facilities, and other pro-life non-profits, he also urged Catholics to take part in their own spiritual development.