Anti-abortion group brings message to Valley
By Justin Post
© 2002 Tribune Chronicle

AUSTINTOWN - Mark Harrington sees more obscene gestures than the average driver.
He's not necessarily a bad driver. It's the gigantic picture of a bloody aborted baby on the side of his box truck that rouses motorists.

''Nobody can deny the power of these graphic images,'' Harrington says. ''Pictures can communicate complex messages, often at a glance, and that is the power of it.''

Harrington is part of a nonprofit organization dubbed the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. The organization plasters bloody pictures of aborted fetuses on the side of trucks to spread their anti-abortion message. The trucks were in Youngstown Monday, and will drive through Warren today between 11 a.m. and noon before returning to Youngstown.

Harrington and several fellow Columbus residents who are members of the organization picked the area because he says there is an abortion clinic in Youngstown.

Or, as he puts it: ''You kill babies here.''

But Lynda Rukstalis, who was chatting on a CB radio when the entourage passed en route to the Travel America truck stop in Austintown, was horrified by the images, and believes the organization should spread the message differently.

''I saw them go by, and I thought it was the most degrading thing I have ever seen,'' the North Jackson resident said. ''There is a right and a wrong way to do things and that is the wrong way.'' Laurie Smith, who was parked beside Rukstalis, agreed.

''There are kids in cars and this is going to traumatize them,'' she said. ''It's rude.''

On the other hand, Harrington says that talking just doesn't convey the message. He says six in 10 people nationwide support abortion.

''When you have a situation where six out of 10 people believe in what is on the side of my truck, or that abortion should be legal, then the only way to reach them is to confront them with the reality, and the best way to do that is with a picture.''

The agency - which raises money through private donations - is slated to visit several cities in Ohio before traveling to Southern states.

The local visit is part of a 14-city tour that began July 15 and is dubbed ''the Reproductive Choice Campaign.''

''Americans will not reject abortion until Americans see abortion,'' Harrington said. ''The Reproductive Choice Campaign will expose thousands of Youngstown residents to the truth about abortion.''