I was appalled to see the Gazette offer itself as a mouthpiece for anti-abortion propaganda on its front page laste week (“Saving lives and helping women,” Oct. 25). The tiniest bit of research reveals that the “40 Days for Life” campaign regularly features anti-choice activists harassing and photographing pregnant women — and children — and forcing leaflets that peddle pseudo-medical disinformation and equate abortion with genocide on patients as they try to get in a health clinic door. As Guardian journalist Holly Baxter, put it, “this tactic has earned them the moniker 40 Days for Lies.” Baxter also has reported witnessing the effect of “40 Days” protests on patients: “a teenager waiting for his girlfriend who absentmindedly takes a leaflet and leaves upset; a couple who hide in a bush for an hour, waiting in vain for the ‘prayer vigil” to leave; a middle-aged mother-of-three, navigating a pushchair, is heckled with: “You have kids already! What are you doing?”
Despite its branding as benign, the “40 Days” campaign is part of an anti-abortion movement strategy to shame, intimidate, and threaten pregnant people seeking health care. Anti-abortion “prayer vigils” across the country include gun-parading protestors in open-carry states, raucous “services” outside patient exam and treatment rooms, and “worship services at the gates of hell” organized by “The Church at Planned Parenthood” founder – and January 6th insurrectionist/Christian nationalist Ken Peters. Instead of providing any of this context for Springfield protestor and Diocese claims, the Gazette used its front page to unquestioningly broadcast their anti-abortion movement talking points. This is neither journalism, nor news, and would be disappointing at any time. But in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe, when actual reporting is everywhere on the devastating impact abortion bans are having on the lives of women and girls, this Gazette piece was irresponsible and harmful. As an antidote, I urge readers to follow 1st Hampshire state Re[p. Lindsay Sabadosa’s “#40Days40Facts” social media campaign, launched on Oct. 25, for real evidence-based information about abortion health care (www.facebook.com/hashtag/abortionishealthcare).
Jenifer McKenna
Leeds