Abortion Providers, Big Apple Advertising Firm to Launch $10 Million Campaign to Combat Anti-Choice Messages

Photo courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald
The new ad campaign stresses the fact that abortion clinics even exceed the sanitation requirements of businesses such as nail salons.

NEW YORK – The American Association of Abortion Providers (AAAP) and Manhattan’s J. Arthur Bosch Agency are kicking off a $10 million campaign this month to counteract the nation’s anti-choice propaganda machine.

The campaign, titled “Cleaner Than,” will feature print, television, radio and Internet advertising. The purpose of the campaign is to override some of the anti-choice stereotypes of the abortion industry, including the notion that it is a largely unregulated field. Print ad headlines include: “What’s cleaner than your neighborhood nail salon?” “What’s cleaner than your vet’s office?” and “What’s cleaner than your son’s room?” At the bottom of each print ad, the tagline states: “Your local abortion clinic.”

Robert Neillson, creative director for J. Arthur Bosch, said he is excited about the new campaign. “The AAAP is letting the public know, through this campaign, that abortion providers know what a bottle of Lysol is, and the government doesn’t have to strong arm them into using it every now and then.”

Michelle Gooding, public relations director for the AAAP, said the industry as a whole has been dogged by erroneous anti-choice propaganda that clinics are unsanitary and unsafe. “As far as the Internet rumors that there is not adequate access to emergency equipment at abortion clinics – that is categorically untrue,” she said. “Everyone knows medical emergency equipment is only an ambulance ride away.”

She added that she believes the campaign will set unfounded rumors about the industry to rest. “There is just so much more flexibility in this industry,” she said. “You don’t have to be an ob-gyn to perform an abortion. You can be an allergist, or a chiropractor or a psychiatry resident moon lighting a couple of days a week to pay off your student loans. We aren’t restricted by the same rules a hospital or regular clinic would be, and that flexibility allows us to have more clinics out there to serve you.”

Anti-choice activists who have seen the campaign are already crying foul over supposed inaccuracies. “The campaign says they are cleaner than a vet’s office,” said Thomas Fontenot, president of Journalists for Life. “But the truth is your local veterinarian’s office is subjected to more stringent regulations than an abortion clinic would be.”

Gooding said she is not surprised by reactions on the part of the anti-choice movement. “Why can’t they just accept what we say and save women’s lives in the process?”