Focus on the Family to put live 4-D ultrasounds on Times Square jumbotron
In response to New York's new abortion law, which effectively allows unlimited abortion until birth, Focus on the Family launched the largest pro-life effort in the organization's history.
The 12-week campaign, dubbed SEE LIFE CLEARLY, will culminate in a May 4 event in Times Square, "Alive from New York," where live 4-D ultrasounds will be broadcast on a jumbotron.
"We’re looking to fill Times Square with pro-life Americans, and it will feature live music, compelling and inspirational speakers, and best of all, live 4-D ultrasounds broadcast on a massive digital marquee in Times Square, powerfully showing the world that a baby inside the womb is fully human and should be given the chance to be born," Focus announced.
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Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, believes the images will have a powerful impact.
"We'll have great speakers. We're going to have music, but we're also going to do a live ultrasound of a third-trimester baby. And with the 4-D technology that we have, it looks like a picture of a 1-year-old. There is no way a person is going to be able to say, 'That is not a child.' It is a child and we want everybody to see it," he told CBN News Tuesday.
A series of events in recent weeks have brought more attention to late-term abortions and the killing of babies who survive botched abortions.
On Jan. 22, New York passed a law protecting abortion rights through an entire pregnancy. The law stated that an abortion can be performed for any reason before 24 weeks or "at any time when necessary to protect a patient's life or health." Since the Supreme Court ruled in Doe v. Bolton that the health reasons are defined by the doctor, the law effectively allows unlimited abortion until birth.
Later that week, during a subcommittee hearing in the Virginia legislature, Democrat Kathy Tran was answering questions about an abortion bill and said it would allow abortion while the mom was in labor and dilating. In an attempt to clarify those remarks, Gov. Ralph Northam, who is embroiled in a blackface scandal within his own party, said that the abortion bill would allow doctors to withhold care from a baby born alive, presumably after an abortion failed to kill the fetus.
In response to Northam's comments, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., has been seeking passage of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, to protect the lives of babies marked for abortion but born alive.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., blocked the bill, arguing, “We have laws against infanticide in this country. This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered and therefore I object."
In a Wednesday Fox News interview, Sasse appeared with Daly to talk about the legislation and the Focus on the Family campaign.
"The reality is, what New York did is try to strip protections from babies right up until the moment of birth and then they went out and they said let's celebrate this and light up the World Trade Center in pink lights," Sasse said.
"The pro-life movement is pro-compassion, it's pro-baby, it's pro-mom and it's pro-science," he added.
The SEE LIFE CLEARLY campaign is asking supporters to sign "A Declaration for Life," attend the May 4 "Alive from New York" event in Times Square, and donate to its Option Ultrasound program.
