The image: Last month, a controversial anti-abortion ad targeting African-American women in New York City was deemed "grossly offensive," and eventually taken down. Now, the Texas-based group behind the New York ad, known as Life Always, is raising a ruckus in Chicago. On Tuesday, the group unveiled the first of 30 billboards that will be placed around the city's South Side to target African Americans. (See an image below.) The billboards feature a picture of President Obama and the words "Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted."
The reaction: Hey, we're just trying to protect "babies who could grow to be the future presidents of the United States, or the next Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington or Maya Angelou," says Reverend Derek McCoy, a Life Always board member, as quoted at ABC News. What nonsense, says Jessica Wakeman at The Frisky. By that "rock solid logic, you could also be aborting the next Adolf Hitler. Or Josef Stalin. Or Pol Pot." Not only that, but this isn't about any kind of legitimate concern for black Americans," says Akiba Solomon at Color Lines. This latest ad just "capitalizes on the African-American community's legitimate fears about how white supremacy, gun violence, police brutality and mass incarceration endanger the lives of black men." Judge for yourself: