By Bud Shaver,
Albuquerque, New Mexico- Lamar billboard company has halted a pro-life campaign launched by Life Ministries U.S. in Texas due to,
“abortion pill reversal language”
(Content/language that Lamar rejected)
This surprising decision came after Life Ministries US signed contracts with the company and weeks of working with a Lamar artist to design a billboard that reminds abortion seeking Texas women that their state laws are in place to protect them and their pre-born babies.
According to Tara Shaver of Life Ministries US,
“While the design of our pro-life billboard was approved quickly and without issue, according to email correspondence with Lamar representatives in Texas, the General Manager took issue with “Abortion Pill Reversal language” mentioned on the website that is featured on the billboard.
PregnancyHelpToday.com is the website that we created for this campaign to educate women traveling to New Mexico for abortions. It has information about pregnancy resource centers, abortion procedures and risks, abortion pill reversal and much more.
We are disappointed and shocked that Lamar is violating our free speech in attempting to control the content of a website that is on one of their boards. The Abortion Pill Reversal protocol has been proven to reverse the effects of taking the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. In fact, at least 6,000 babies have been reportedly saved using this proven protocol! The reversal protocols must be carried out by a licensed physician and it is the right of every woman to know her options before and after an abortion.”
Here are some of the email correspondences with the Lamar design team:
Tara Shaver requested clarification for which specific policy violation would result in the termination of the contract,
“Since there was no mention of this being a policy of Lamar’s on the contract, we would like to see that policy in writing that is being referred to with regard to the abortion pill reversal.
PregnancyHelpToday.com completes our billboard message because we’re not only wanting to let women know that Texas laws protect them and their babies, but we want them to be able to find help and alternatives to abortion as well. This includes abortion pill reversal options should a woman decide to change her mind.
Please provide Lamar‘s written policy with regard to this matter. Thank you very much.”
Trevor J Fields / VP/General Manager
Lamar Advertising of Amarillo/Lubbock responded,
“Good Morning,
I have attached a copy of Lamar’s Copy Acceptance Policy for your review. Also, as per our contract:
Standard Condition 6. Copy Acceptance: Lamar reserves the right to determine if copy and design are in good taste and within the moral standards of the individual communities in which it is to be displayed. Lamar reserves the right to reject or remove any copy either before or after installation, including immediate termination of this contract.In communication with our Executive Vice-President of Governmental Relations, it has been determined that we can not run the submitted creative as content within the website provided falls outside of the Copy Acceptance Policy.”
Tara Shaver spokeswoman for Life Ministries US issued the following statement in response,
“The primary message of our billboard campaign is to encourage Texas women to ‘Turn Around’ and not come to New Mexico to end the lives of their pre-born children. We firmly believe that every woman deserves to know that if she has taken the abortion pill that she can change her mind especially if she is traveling home from New Mexico to Texas. Unfortunately, this is a truth that the abortion industry withholds from women. Furthermore, since abortions are illegal in Texas, the abortion pill reversal is absolutely in line with the moral standards of Texas.
It is our opinion that it’s Lamar’s (corporate management) standards that are out of line with the state of Texas.
The fact that women can circumvent Texas abortion laws, by interstate travel, to New Mexico and Lamar’s obstruction of our pro-life free speech efforts to prevent that, is the real moral violation here.“
BLATANT CONTRADICTION OF STANDARDS!
(Abortion Free New Mexico’s team provided this photo of a Lamar billboard on the border of New Mexico)
Lamar has pro-abortion billboards throughout New Mexico and Texas. The one pictured above is at the New Mexico border. In Texas, Lamar allowed billboards that claimed “Abortion is a Blessing” to be posted in 2020.
Tara Shaver calls out the blatant contradiction of standards by Lamar management,
“Lamar is currently allowing Planned Parenthood of The Rocky Mountains to promote a billboard in New Mexico celebrating abortion, while at the same time shutting down our free speech rights in New Mexico and Texas which is blatant hypocrisy.
CONCLUSION-
Lamar billboard company is on the wrong side of this situation. They claim to support the first amendment but seemingly want to withhold life saving information from abortion seeking women. One can only assume that they are willfully censoring our pro-life speech due to an internal pro-abortion bias within the higher levels of management.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION-
As 2024 came to an end, Abortion Free New Mexico, a ministry of Life Ministries US announced an interstate campaign launching in 2025.
“Crazed New Mexico democrats are hell bent on expanding abortion tourism into our state. So we are launching our response to their dangerous tax-funded targeting of out-of state pregnant moms in 2025! We ask for your prayers during this time as we plan and put things into motion. May the Lord’s will be done and may pregnant mothers find encouragement to choose life for their babies,” stated Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico.
- RELATED REPORT: ABORTION FREE FOR ALL IN NEW MEXICO: TAXES FUND ABORTIONS FOR MINORS, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND OUT OF STATE RESIDENTS
As pro-life states like Texas are seeing their abortion numbers decreased significantly as a result of Roe v. Wade being overturned and abortion laws now being determined by individual states, pro-abortion states like New Mexico on the other hand, have seen out of state abortions increase 565%!
- FULL REPORT: STAGGERING 565% INCREASE IN OUT OF STATE ABORTIONS IN NEW MEXICO SINCE ROE V. WADE OVERTURNED
Shockingly, the vast majority of the out of state abortions being obtained in New Mexico, are from women crossing the border from Texas to evade their pro-life laws.
According to a report from the Pinon Post,
“14,200 Texas babies were killed in the womb in New Mexico, marking a tragic influx since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
Therefore, the intention of our 2025 interstate campaign is to primarily reach abortion bound women traveling to New Mexico from Texas and provide them with help and alternatives to abortion.
