June 8, 2011, - 7:00 pm
Not Sure About This Abortion Billboard
One of the many hypocrisies in American family law is that if a woman wants to get an abortion, she has 100% control over that decision, even if she is married. The father has no say. Yet, if she decides to give birth, the father of the kid–who also has no say in that decision–must pay child support. I am pro-life, but I find this contradiction ridiculous. That said, I’m unsure I like the billboard put up by New Mexico man, Greg Fultz, declaring his upset over his girlfriend’s abortion. He doesn’t name her, so he’s really only shaming himself, and, to me, it’s just another annoying outgrowth of internet attempts by everyone to put their private lives and dirty laundry out there for the world.
I think the billboard is kind of low class, actually, and maybe he should have married her before fathering potential kids. Plus, he’s not even sure if the baby was aborted or miscarried. It’s a free country, and he can say or do whatever he wants. I just don’t like it. I don’t agree with a court ordering him to take it down on the grounds that it’s “harassment,” and I think he could successfully challenge that unconstitutional limitation of his First Amendment free speech rights in an appeal. On the other hand, if the kid wasn’t aborted, then the woman has a possible defamation claim against him, though such a claim would be clouded by the fact that he doesn’t name a specific girlfriend.
A New Mexico man said today he will fight to keep up a controversial billboard that suggested his ex-girlfriend had an abortion.
The billboard has a photo of Greg Fultz holding the outline of a baby with a playground in the background. The large text beside the photo reads, “This Would Have Been a Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To NOT KILL Our Child!”
The sign is on White Sands Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in Alamogordo, N.M., and has been up since mid-May. Fultz’s ex-girlfriend Nani Lawrence took him to court with a petition for domestic violence and charges of harassment and invasion of privacy.
Fultz, 35, claims that Lawrence was pregnant with his child during their six-month relationship last year. He admits that when the relationship ended, the baby was lost, but he does not know whether it was due to an abortion or a miscarriage. Fultz says that Lawrence would not tell him what happened. . . .
“My original intentions when I started this campaign were quite simple,” Fultz said. “I just wanted to shed the light on pro-life issues and fathers’ rights. I have had no closure over my own personal loss and that’s where the billboard came into play.”
Last week, Otero County Domestic Violence Court hearing commissioner Darrell Brantley recommended an order of protection for Lawrence and that the billboard be removed by 8:14 a.m. on June 17 on the grounds of harassment.
I like the idea of provoking thought over the hypocrisy and lack of father’s rights with regard to unborn children. But, again, I think this is a low-class way of doing it. And I’m not sure it will change any minds. I think he should have the right to know, though, what led to the baby’s death. And, as I noted above, he should have a say–as all potential fathers should but don’t–in the baby’s fate.
What do you think about Greg Fultz’s billboard?
Tags: abortion, Alamogordo, Billboard, boyfriend, Darrell Brantley, fathers rights, First Amendment, Free Speech, girlfriend, Greg Fultz, miscarriage, Nani Lawrence, New Mexico, Otero County, Otero County Domestic Violence Court, pro-choice, pro-life, Right to Life, This would have been a picture of my 2-month old baby if the mother had decided not to kill our child!, White Sands Boulevard
I say this guy is some a**hole who still hasn’t gotten over the fact that his relationship is over. He probably does believe her when she says she miscarried and just wants to hurt her in the worst possible way. Now everytime she and her family drive past this sign, they have to mourn they baby they lost all over again! Mission accomplished!
Lee in IL on June 8, 2011 at 7:26 pm