The Catholic News Agency reports that Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has condemned the removal of a pro-life billboard that had been erected above a Mexican restaurant premises as a ‘gag order’. The billboard depicts a little African girl, beneath the phrase ‘The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb’
Archbishop Dolan quoted a recent New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report that 59.8 per cent of African American pregnancies in the city ended in abortion, and he said that:that figure was ‘even higher than the chilling city-wide average of 41 per cent of pregnancies ending in abortion.’
The Archbishop said that ‘being confronted by the truth can often be unpleasant’, and that the message conveyed by the billboard is so seriously true. Commenting on those whose decision it was to remove the billboard, he asked:
‘Are they claiming that free speech is a right enjoyed only by those who favor abortion or their pet causes? Do they believe that unpleasant and disturbing truths should not be spoken? Or, are they afraid that when people are finally confronted with the reality of the horror of abortion, and with the toll that it is taking in our city, particularly in our African-American community, that they will be moved to defend innocent, unborn, human life?’
A good question, and one that can very well be put to authorities worldwide.
