I Saw The Sign...

Okay, I know I shouldn't discuss my political leanings on a public site, lest I offend or upset someone, but I just have to.

I saw this sign while riding the J subway from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side this weekend. Public advertising for a highly politicized AND personal issue is of course entirely legal, but what about ethics?



If you can't read it, this is what the sign says:

"I thought
life would be the way it was before,
abortion changes you.

abortionchangesyou.com"


On the one hand, I suppose I should thank the sign for telling me that having an abortion is a potentially life-changing experience. Of course no one in their right mind would EVER assume that such a procedure could be painful, frightening, or (possibly) life-threatening. So, thank you, sign for notifying the population of New York City, as well as myself, that putting oneself under the knife is a serious matter. And here I thought I was living in Grey's Anatomy.

What really irks me about this sign, aside from the fact that it blatantly tells anyone who reads it that abortions are not the way to go and in fact you'd be better off if you had the child (despite the fact that you might be horribly in debt, already a mother of five, underage, unmarried, homeless, still in school, etc), is its placement. Without intending to sound like a bigot, I have to point out that riding the subway is one of the cheapest forms of transportation that a city can offer. And what does cheap transportation hint at? A poor, less financially-stable clientele. (Albeit many people who ride the subway, myself included, do not fit this demographic so I apologize for the gross generalization, but hopefully you catch my drift.) An abortion is a costly procedure and unwanted pregnancies are high in poorer demographics. Thus, a confused, frightened woman who is debating whether or not to keep her baby might ride the J train, read this sign, and be swayed by its message.

Food for thought:
While riding the same J train the next day to Grand Central station I started talking with a pregnant nineteen year-old who was sitting next to me. Turns out that she's unmarried (but has a boyfriend) and both she and the father have dropped out of high school. She's eight months pregnant. Which makes me wonder, whether or not she had seen the sign. If you have to ride the J train to get into the city every day, how many lives has this sign affected?