Tell the Truth Coalition are at it again with exaggerations and lies

There have been more than a few hits on this blog through google searches for the Tell the Truth coalition. Here's why. With the Abortion Law Reform Bill to be debated in parliament soon it looks like the leaflet drops have started again. This article says the new leaflets were distributed in Ballarat, and it indicated that these leaflets differed from the first lot in March, depicting graphic images of partial birth abortions.

*sigh*

They are now acting in direct contravention of the Australian Advertising Standards Bureau ruling. Maybe they've received legal advice? Maybe they think that foot-soldiers for god are above the law? At any rate, this warranted some investigation, so here goes:

I just visited the Tell the Truth Coalition website and it's new and improved with the rather confused message that decriminalising abortion will give you no rights.

Most interestingly, the new leaflet seems to be on their website and old Ron Van Wegen (readers from March will remember him as the guy who accused me of possessing many unsavory character traits) seems to have authorised it as well as written it. The mobile number they ask you to call for their media contact is the same as the one on the pamphlet I received in March.

I could not find any reference to Ron's Blog (which has not been updated since July) on the website. Perhaps he is afraid of the kind of response he received last time? In March, many, many people were able to use his site as reassurance that they were not alone in their outrage. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want a repeat of that kind of social solidarity.

Anyway, this new leaflet does not contain any photos that I would have thought were offensive or graphic, so they have probably not violated the Australian Advertising Standards Bureau ruling. The partial birth abortion is diagrammatic, with the usual depiction of the woman as merely a vessel for baby. In other words, there was no woman in the pictures. ("Heaven forbid we remind folks that there is a woman involved!!")

The leaflet does, however, contain the usual exaggerations and outright lies:

a) Ron does not mention that most of parliament seems to be considering Option B and says that the new laws will legalise "all abortions up until the moment of birth". This panicky statement made me laugh, birth does not occur in a "moment". Can you imagine a woman in labour deciding she needed an abortion NOW!?? Jeepers. A big red cross in the sanity stakes for use of dramatic language Ron. But seriously, he betrays a view of women as satanic harpies who would carry a baby for nine months then abort on a whim. It's so sad that he is not alone in this view.

b) "Punish medical staff who refuse to co-operate in an abortion." If anyone can find the bit in the legislation that says non-participation in an abortion will be a crime, please, point me to it. I have not heard of it. There HAS, however, been talk of the possibility of medical staff being discriminated against if they refuse to participate in abortions - discriminated against in the sense that they will not be employed by institutions who perform abortions. Ron is again, guilty of exaggeration to the point of falsehood.

c) "Deny legal protection to women being coerced into having an abortion." This one would be hilarious if it weren't for the gravity of the situation. Women have always had legal protection against coerced abortions, at least as far as the actual procedure is concerned. All she has to do is say she does not want one and the abortion becomes assault if it commences. Women who are coerced into unwanted abortions are made victims by their families or lovers way before they get to the clinic door. The new law will neither decrease nor increase their vulnerability.

d) "Allow violent offenders to end the life of an unborn child without murder or manslaughter charges." Do I really need to say anything here? To the best of my knowledge, the Child Destruction laws will remain mostly intact. So violent offenders who attack a woman with the intent of killing the foetus will still be prosecuted under that law. We also had laws against violence itself last I heard, it's not as though violent offenders will go unpunished.

e) As for "Do you want the Victorian Government to legalise Partial Birth Abortion?" Partial birth abortion has never been illegal here. The new bill will not affect the legality of partial birth abortions.

Seriously, I hope people DO write to their MPs saying "I heard you are going to legalise partial birth abortions!!!" and, "Now women who are being coerced into having abortions will have no legal protection at all!!!" Because they are going to sound like crazies who do not have the faintest idea about what is really going on.

Ron seems to have a loose grip on reality too. It's a shame he has enough funding to print leaflets. I note, however, that the Tell the Truth Coalition does not seem to have the numbers to fund or deliver leaflets Victoria-wide. This says a great deal about the number of crazies out there, that is, that there seem to be fewer crazies than sane people.

Those of you who have read this far might be interested in my other posts on the Tell the Truth Coalition, particularly this one on Pro-Life Lie Dissemination Tactics.