Abortion Distortion: A TV Show "Baits & Switches"

In grade school, I did a school paper on advertising and learned about the "bait & switch" trick: ads would entice people with one product or version of the product, but once you got to the store, you learned that that product was "sold out" but they had this "other product" just as good, maybe even better, for a bit more money, and boy, didn't you just have to have that one?

Rain checks and online and toll-free-phone shopping didn't exist, and so you either bought the different item or you went home empty-handed.

A TV show invited our friend Theresa Bonopartis of Lumina to be among the panelists in a discussion called "Roe ve Wade-The Shifting Tide of Abortion."

Theresa writes that it was about anything but. She also decided not to be a panelist, but just attend as part of the audience.

Just thought I would let you know what happened on that TV show I went to yesterday. As I thought, I should have stayed home. Aside from the obvious which I mention below in my note to the news director, the woman from NARAL, Christine, did a great job of dancing around questions bringing the topic continually back to contraception and how young adults love sex and they better get into the century if they think people are not going to have it.

When Q&A time came, my question, of course, was to the harm of abortion on countless women. She completely skirted it and got away with it. In the end she did not really answer one question directed to her, but most interesting was, she got the audience, which she knew very well, exactly where she wanted them: pissed off because Jim Sedlak and Chris Slaughtery said no to contraception and sex. The two of them also answered all the questions (on those 2 topics) and not once did they bring back to topic: The Shifting Tide of Abortion. While I truly appreciate Chris' work (he runs many CPC's) it should have been women up there! Jim Sedlak is great with talking about Planned Parenthood but not a good voice for this forum.

To give you an idea, when it came time for questions and answers mine was the only one on the pro-life side...the audience was buzzing with laughter and remarks and even 2 pro-life girls had problems with Jim and Chris! So, in the end it was the same old, same old...Don't know if it can be caught online when it airs (next Thursday 7:00..RNNTV). They will have a call in session.

Here is my email to the News director when I got home.

Not that you asked for it but I thought I would give my feedback in case you ever really want to do a show on abortion.

As someone who has experienced it and often feels "stuck in the middle" of the debate I found the show very frustrating on both sides. As I mentioned to you pre-show, the fact that you had 2 older men on the pro-life side was ridiculous. I heard comments from the audience discrediting them before they even opened their mouths. Although I respect what Chris does, as I said before, there are articulate young women who could speak to this issue.

I also found the show completely off topic. 90% of it was spent on discussing contraceptives and sex in our culture. Jim Sedlak comes from ALL,an organization strictly Catholic, and while he of course would present their views, it was ridiculous for him to be the pro-life voice. ALL also makes shirts that say "Abortion is homicide." Need I say more?

Christine often led the direction of topic bringing it back to contraception and sexual behavior--the entire show. Her aim was to make the pro-life panelists look unreasonable and crazy, and she succeeded. I kept hoping the host would bring it back to topic, but that did not happen. When I asked my question, she went off on childbirth being more dangerous than abortion and she continually quoted inaccurate stats (check out Planned Parenthood own statistics). She never answered any part of my question, because she couldn't.

Of course, this made the pro-life side appear crazy, full of only men, extreme and made the kids not even willing to listen. Of course, this does not surprise me.

The really sad thing is, these very same kids are the ones I will see later, devastated by the harm abortion has done to them. It may not happen until they're married and having a first child, but as I said on the show EVERY month I get 15-20 new women, of every religion, culture and race. I was tempted to ask the adults laughing in the audience if they would think it was funny to see their daughters' lives destroyed. No matter what your view on abortion there is nothing funny about it.

What could have been a truly educational show about abortion, in the end turned into being the same old song. A true injustice to women who deserve to know the whole truth before they make a choice...instead it was mockery..., I feel you missed a great opportunity to address the real issue. PEOPLE are turning against abortion because they see its devastation in their mothers, sisters, friends, aunts etc. Everyone knows someone suffering ...we are everywhere, in our homes, schools, churches, & work places. In spite of shows like this the truth will continue come out because of the experience of women who have had them, and hearts will keep changing one at a time.

Theresa

Sounds to me like it was nothing but a cheap "The View-wannabee." How sad.

Seems if they really wanted to do an honest show about the state of abortion in the U.S. today, they'd have at least 18 women leaders of pro-life groups to contact.

But then, they really don't want to have the honest show, do they?