Petition in Support of Kelowna Right to Life's Pro-Life Ad
Background: Early this month, Kelowna Right to Life, a pro-life group located in the province of British Columbia, paid for a pro-life advertisement to run on a local television station - CHBC, an affiliate of Global TV. The ad, designed by Priests for Life, New York, begins with the slogan, "All those against abortion, raise your hand", and then depicts an adult hand holding the hand of a baby killed by abortion. Originally CHBC agreed to run the ad, after it was approved for airing by the Television Bureau (TVB) of Canada. But then, on Thursday, February 4, the station announced - apparently under the influence of its parent station, Global TV - that it had changed its mind, and would no longer run the ad, saying that the ad was too "graphic."
Petition Text (to which you are signing your name)
To CHBC and Global TV Executives,
We are disturbed to hear that you have decided against airing the television ad that was being sponsored by Kelowna Right to Life, ostensibly for the reason that the ad is too “graphic.”
As you know, the ad was approved for airing by the Television Bureau of Canada, which clearly did not believe the ad to be too graphic. In fact, the images in the ad are no more graphic than images that are routinely aired on Canadian television. For this reason we can only conclude that the decision not to run the ad stems more from a desire to censor a certain viewpoint than from a desire to protect your audience from legitimately offensive material.
As a television station that specializes in reporting the news, it is not your job to take a specific position on, or to prevent your audience from hearing alternative arguments about an issue that continues to be the subject of considerable debate. We therefore respectfully, but firmly request that you reconsider your decision to censor the Kelowna Right to Life ad.
