The Hallmark Channel is among several entertainment outlets that are refusing to air a pro-life ad from the Susan B. Anthony List.
The advertisement is part of the group’s $2 million campaign “highlighting the humanity of unborn children as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a landmark abortion case.” In an email to SBA List, CBS explained that “Issue-oriented advertisements that are designed for the purpose of presenting views or influencing legislation on issues that are controversial by general public consensus are unacceptable.”
An official with CMT, originally launched as Country Music Television, offered a similar response but indicated that it would be “unacceptable” to air such a disputable ad. “While we do accept political and issue-based ads on a case-by-case basis, issue-oriented ads that are designed for the purpose of presenting views or influencing legislation on issues that are controversial by general public consensus are unacceptable,” CMT wrote in an email. And Crown Media, which owns Hallmark, told SBA List that it could not endorse the ad because it would affect the enjoyable experience Hallmark strives to give viewers.
READ: Supreme Court agrees to hear historic Mississippi challenge to Roe v Wade
The ad campaign follows an announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from Mississippi, which is seeking to can ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
We're launching an initial $2M campaign highlighting the humanity of unborn children as the Supreme Court prepares to review a landmark abortion case
Watch the ad: pic.twitter.com/3xNV0Mm4sm
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) May 26, 2021
The ad, which is paid for by the SBA List Education Fund, “doesn’t issue any calls to action to Congress or attack any candidate or politician,” the group said. “It simply praises the modern miracles of medicine and health care tech, which have increased opportunities for every generation in the last 50 years, except for the unborn, because the U.S. allows abortion-on-demand through birth.”
Susan B. Anthony List responded to the channels’ rejection of the ad in a tweet: “BIG MEDIA corporations like @CBS & @hallmarkchannel BANNED our pro-life TV ad, claiming it’s too ‘controversial.’ The right to LIFE is NOT controversial!”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice