Fetus Trucks To Hit Freeways
By Cloe Cabrera
© 2001 The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Bay area motorists, beware.

A fleet of box trucks plastered with large photographs of aborted fetuses is rolling toward a roadway near you.

The Reproductive Choice Campaign will begin an 11-city tour Tuesday and Wednesday in Tampa. The campaign is the work of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, a nonprofit group based in Los Angeles.

``Although freeways were created for transportation, [they provide] a huge forum for which we have a captive audience of people who can't turn the page or change the channel,'' said Gregg Cunningham, the center's director.

``We want to make certain the word choice means something to people. ... The proof is in the pictures.''

Cunningham would not disclose the caravan's route or the number of trucks participating, citing security concerns. The group's Web site says the trucks, which have been traveling Los Angeles highways since June, typically roll during rush hours and stick to freeways.

Designed to provoke an emotional reaction, the photographs could upset children, Cunningham said.

``We think it's a very bad thing for children to see these photos,'' Cunningham said, adding that the trucks avoid roads near schools. ``But do we care more about the feelings of born children than the lives of unborn children?''

This delivery bothers Wendy Grassi of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, a group that backs abortion rights.

She remembers the reaction to a similar caravan in January at St. Armands Circle.

``They caused a lot of upset among merchants and families with children,'' she said. ``They have a right to do it, but it's a very distorted way to get the point across.''

In Los Angeles, the fleet has elicited dramatic responses, said Cunningham, a former Pennsylvania lawmaker who helped stop public funding for abortions in that state. He hasn't heard of any car accidents, but the caravan has caused some near misses.

``The most pervasive reaction people have to it is one of stunned disbelief,'' he said. ``People's heads spin around, and their mouths fall open. They don't expect to see anything that horrifying on the freeway.''

When the fleet leaves Tampa, it will go on to Orlando; Miami; Fort Lauderdale; West Palm Beach; New York City; Long Beach, N.Y.; Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Detroit; through October.

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has exhibited the photos before. Its Genocide Awareness Campaign, a static display of the fetus photos juxtaposed with pictures of Holocaust victims and lynched blacks, toured 32 college campuses including the University of South Florida in 1999.

The caravan depicts eight photographs at least 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide. One shows a fetus's decapitated head held in forceps, another the remains of bloody arms and hands.

City and county law enforcement officials said Friday that they weren't aware of the caravan.

``As long as they don't stop on the roadways and obey all the traffic laws, they are within their rights to drive around all they want,'' said Lt. Rod Reder, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman.