Roe v Wade: Public Relations Industry Research Paper

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The aim of this research paper is to explore the landmark Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling of 1973 from the point of view of the public relations industry. In doing so, the author will examine both sides of the abortion debate (pro-life as well as pro-choice) and analyze how public relations campaign managers, representing diverse interest groups successfully communicate opposing messages that have polarized the nation ever since this historic verdict came into force. Accordingly, the author will examine the implications of this debate on a specific organization – in this instance, a news and media entity is used to study the fall-out of the abortion debate. The author will also suggest recommendations for the public relations industry by bringing these polarizing viewpoints across one negotiation table, and seek an amicable resolution to the stalemate like situation in the future.

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Thesis Statement: The author will prove the following statement in this research paper, “The public relations industry representing various interest groups is largely accountable for creating the present day divide on the issue of abortion. Therefore, the burden of responsibility lies on this very industry to heal the wounds of the past and address the concerns of rights groups on both sides of the debate. Public Relations, can be thus, used as a way to generate consensus, and not create any further divides (Cameron, Wilcox, Reber & Hwa-Shin, 2008, p. 24)

Historical Background: The Roe v Wade verdict was an important Supreme Court ruling in 1973 which effectively legalized abortion in the United States. The plaintiff, Norma M. Corvey, or Jane Roe, sought abortion on the grounds that reproductive rights of women should be seen as a fundamental right for them over their own bodies, and that fetuses cannot enjoy legal, personhood status over the mother (Stanton, 2005). With the passage of Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court would soon be in a position to invalidate a number of State rulings which until now, restricted abortions in one way or t he other. These include cases involving the states of Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri where the Supreme Court ruling presided over existing state laws on abortion (Stanton, 2005). Indeed, Roe v Wade became the instrument for pro-abortion activists to unite under one umbrella for carrying out their activities with a missionary zeal. NARAL Pro-choice America is one such organization.

On the other side of the debate, the pro-life movement came into force in equal measure. This team essentially comprised religious lobbyists (especially, Catholics and Southern Baptists), the Family Life Bureau and other conservative groups (Stanton, 2005).

The emergence of pro-life and pro-choice forces has eventually led to present-day complications in the abortion debate. Now, we will take a closer look into the public relations activities of both sides, pro-choice as well as pro-life.

Earlier PR Campaigns: Even before Roe v Wade became a reality, many media entities were openly thriving on the abortion debate. For example, in Bigelow v Virginia, Bigelow, the director and managing editor of The Virginia Weekly came under legal scrutiny for illegally referring to abortion clinics in his newspaper (Moore, Ferrar & Collins, 1998, p.24). This was a violation of Virginia statutes of those days which made illegal any activity that promoted abortions. However, the legal case was later dropped under First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. With the passage of Roe v Wade, the abortion debate would intensify to a much larger degree.

PR Campaigns by Pro-Choice Groups: On June 15, 1983, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe v Wade by striking down most state and local restrictions limiting access to abortions (Staggenborg, 1994, p.125). This removed any last chances of legal reversal threats faced by the pro-choice movement. Soon, all arms of the government machinery were put into action to furnish reproductive health (including abortion) clinics with enough resources to make sure mothers could chalk out their abortion plans. These were at the helm of affairs throughout the history of the campaign since Roe v Wade (Ellway, 2005).

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Several Pro-choice groups such as NARAL are presently running their independent PR campaigns which include fliers and stickers, campus handouts, outdoor posters, subway and metro ads and other ad campaigns, an example being the “awareness program” on sexual and reproductive rights being run by the Pro-choice Public Education Project (PEP, 2010). A key ingredient of any public relations activity is generation of “understanding” (Cameron et al, 2008, p.25). This involves clearly defined tactics which lead to converting the hostility, apathy and ignorance of target groups into interest, and later acceptance (Baines, Egan & Jefkins, 2004, p.14). This strategy bore fruit with the PR campaigns of pro-choice groups because over the last 36 years, they have carried out a sustained, nationwide marketing campaign which has helped them reach their ideas to a huge base of Americans, millions of whom are now in agreement with their message, even though some could be classified as fence-sitters. Indeed, it’s because these PR efforts have been based on exaggerations and half-truths.

The basic premise of pro-choice PR campaigns centered around the hazy notion that women should have control over their own bodies (Kupelian, 2005). They also spun America’s “Freedom of Choice” doctrine into a 20th century modern maxim – the whole idea was to place women seeking abortion as equivalent to any other constitutional right (Kupelian, 2005).

NARAL, in one of its major PR campaigns, suggested that abortions taking place after Roe v. Wade were simply a legal substitute of illegal abortions taking place earlier (Kupelian, 2005). Factually speaking, it turned out to be a gross overestimation. Considering that over 40 million abortions have taken place since Roe v Wade, no pro-choice organization so far has been able to come with reliable statistics which suggest that an equivalent number of illegal abortions used to take place before this period of time (Kupelian, 2005; Ellway, 2005; Stanton, 2005).

Finally, the pro-choice advocacy groups have invented new advertising terms to lead a unified approach in their support for abortion, sending subtle messages which have no basis in reality. These include using the suffix “rights” for the pro-choice movement in order to subtly suggest something that was written in the constitution (Kupelian, 2005). They also took advantage of the civil rights movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and used the waves of social change to increase their message reach (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p. 241).

Considering the sheer scale of PR campaigns in the pro-choice movement which are currently being authored by various advocacy groups, it’s clearly evident that this movement has been one of the most successful public relations exercise in the last few decades, something which has brought on board even political bigwigs such as the current President Barack Obama (Richardson, 2010).

PR Campaigns by Pro-Life Groups: On the other side of the debate, pro-life groups have also been seen as equally successful in their PR activities, their most notable triumph being bringing on board the original plaintiff of the Roe v Wade case, Norma Corvey or Jane Roe. After being the poster child of the abortion movement for decades, Jane Roe suddenly changed tack in the 1990’s to become a vehement supporter of the pro-life movement (Freeman & Johnson, 1999). Since, Jane based her change of opinion to a newfound love and belonging for Christianity, the pro-life groups have witnessed huge concordance with the religious right which has also been campaigning against abortion on ethical grounds.

Under former Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush, these groups even unsuccessfully attempted to reverse Roe v. Wade. In the last elections, Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice-President nominee rose as a prominent politician to oppose Roe v. Wade (Christian News Wire, 2008).

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The pro-life groups are represented by organizations such as the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition of America and other religious and family welfare groups. Like their counterparts in the pro-choice movement, the pro-life groups also have used powerful tactics to undermine the legal impact caused by the provisions of Roe v. Wade. This effectively took place through a counter-movement which was generally based on “exposing” the lies of the pro-choice movement (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p. 247). By doing so, they arrogated the mantle of righteousness, but their PR began to flounder from an ethical point of view.

One of the principal organs of the pro-choice movement, Operation Rescue (OR), which has Jane Roe as one of its advocates, is known as an organized agency that stages mass protests at abortion clinics across America. This has led to the association of pro-life advocates with intimidation and violent protests (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p.255). The number of clinical bombings by OR had increased from eight incidents in 1977 to fourteen in 1984 and 1985 (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p.255). There were also a number of arson incidents as well as acts which destroyed surgical equipment. OR team members also organized heavy blockades against clinics, incidents which increasingly saw popularity with the religious right (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p.255).

Apart from using religion and intimidation tactics, the pro-life movement also uses mellower forms of propaganda. For instance, a decade ago, the DeMoss Foundation came up with its “Life: What a beautiful Choice” advertising campaign which consisted of happy kids and unmarried parents, a far contrast from earlier campaigns which showed terminated nine-month old fetuses (Baumgardner, 2001). These feel-good images were designed to attract more fence-sitters towards the pro-life action.

Another commonly used PR tool for pro-life advocates is statistics. On each and every debate forum, they quote figures from Gallup Polls and other surveys which suggest a majority of Americans oppose abortion on ethical grounds (Freeman & Johnson, 1999, p.260). This is a forceful tactic which fails on the ground that other surveys suggest that as many as 35% Americans see no problem with the issue of abortion (PEP, 2010). Even though they aren’t in a majority, they do constitute a significant voice. Therefore, it’s not feasible to dismiss the entire pro-choice movement.

Implications on News Media Channels: Ever since Roe v. Wade was passed, news and media channels have faced an increasing dilemma in their presentation sketches of the abortion debate. A comprehensive Los Angeles Times study found that the press often favored abortion rights in its coverage, even though journalists said they made every effort to be fair to both points of view (LA Times, 1990). The implications within media organizations over the abortion debate are profound, and involve a number of key highlights.

For instance, the news media has been accused of consistently using news content that frames the entire abortion debate according to pro-life coverage (LA Times, 1990). It has also been observed that abortion rights activists are quoted more frequently and given more air time compared to their opponents (LA Times, 1990). On the other hand of the spectrum, events and issues favorable to abortion rights activists are given minimal coverage by the media which further, engenders apathy towards their position (LA Times, 1990). Some media organizations including the Associated Press, are known to prefer terms such as “pro-choice” at a much higher rate than equivalent terms such as “pro-life”, indicating a deep down bias which should have no place in independent media (LA Times, 1990). Since, it’s common knowledge that a large number of Americans have serious reservations on the issue of abortion, their voice must also be given due importance.

The author lends his support to equal media coverage for both sides of the debate, with the aim of finding common ground.

Summary Recommendations: Having validated the thesis statement in explaining the PR campaigns of the abortion controversy, the author has come with a few general observations. It’s clear that both the pro-life and pro-choice advocates are unwilling to meet up in order to seek a clear and amicable resolution of the debate. In fact, both sides accuse each other of being immoral and unethical, which leads to a never-ending situation of uncompromising hostility. As discussed in this paper, the PR activities on behalf of both groups have added fuel to fire while intensifying the debate on which abortion point of view is more correct.

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The author feels that given the current political climate, and strict bifurcation of public opinion on the abortion issue, neither side can claim to be more ethical compared to the other. It would be very helpful if both sides started recognizing the complexity of the problem at hand, and gained enough humility to recognize that those on the other side of the debate are not necessarily lacking in insight or integrity (Cauthen, 2010). The whole truth has many sides to it and cannot be simply reduced to two instances of “right” or “wrong” (Cauthen, 2010). Bringing compromise, and seeing the other’s point of view is the only thing which can bring about a lasting resolution to this problem.

Pro-life advocates must come to terms with the fact that some abortions are indeed worth justifying. PR campaigners on behalf of these groups can encourage sexually responsible behavior, such as birth control methods (Cauthen, 2010). Similarly, pro-choice advocates must give up their casual stand on abortions and use their PR resources to promote safe sex, including abstinence (Cauthen, 2010). Having abortion as the last resort is an ideal compromise formula for both splinter groups, and can promote harmony and better long-term understanding.

References

Baines, P., Egan, J. & Jefkins, F.W. (2004). Public Relations: Contemporary Issues And Techniques. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann: Burlington, MA.

Baumgardner, J. (2001). The Pro-Choice PR Problem: Young Women who’ve never Lacked Abortion Rights are Difficult to Mobilize.The Nation. Web.

Cameron, G.T., Wilcox, D.L., Reber, B.H. & Shin, J.H. (2008). Public Relations Today. Pearson Education: New York (1st Edn).

Cauthen, K. (2010). The Abortion Debate. Big Issue Underground. Web.

Christian News Wire. (2008). . Christian News Wire. Web.

Ellway, P. (2005). Shopping for Faith or Dropping your Faith. Pro Quest Library. Web.

Freeman, J. & Johnson, V. (1999). Waves of Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties. Rowman & Littlefield: London.

Richardson, V. (2010). Barack Obama: ‘The most relentlessly pro-abortion President since Roe v. Wade’ Human Events. Web.

Kupelian, D. (2005). . EAEC. Web.

Los Angeles Times. (1990). . MIT Edu Groups. Web.

Moore, R.L., Farrar, R.T. & Collins, E. (1998). Advertising and Public Relations Law. Lawrence Erlbraum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Public Education Project (2010). .The Pro-Choice Public Education Project. Web.

Staggenborg, S. (1994). The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the Abortion Conflict. Oxford University Press: New York.

Stanton, S.S. (2005). Since Roe v Wade: American Public Opinion and the Law on Abortion. Pro Quest Library. Web.

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