Between now and late June scores of Americans will be focused on the issue of abortion and how the US Supreme Court will rule on the Dobbs late-term abortion case in Mississippi. Dobbs has the possibility of overturning or seriously impacting Roe v Wade that legalized abortion throughout pregnancy and has to date taken the lives of more than 63 million unborn babies – equal to the entire population of Italy.
Life Issues Institute will capitalize on this window of opportunity to educate millions of Americans to the truth about abortion and help prepare society for life without abortion. The abortion industry and its supporters are channeling Chicken Little, declaring that the sky will fall, and thousands of women will die if abortion on demand is ended. We intend to demonstrate that the opposite will occur. Women, men, and their babies will flourish in a society that respects and protects innocent human life.
Our Strategic Plan
To accomplish this goal, we plan to utilize our existing relationships with radio stations across the nation. We already educate over 18 million listeners each week with our daily commentary, Life Issues, but there is more we can do. This new project will advance strategic radio and video messaging that we believe will be effective in two important ways. First, we will reach secular audiences that are ambivalent about abortion yet could be persuaded with the right approach and messaging. Second, we will demonstrate to our Christian base that reversing Roe will not result in the abandonment of vulnerable women facing unexpected pregnancies.
We have three strategic messages for America.
First, America’s abortion laws inflict harm on its citizens. This project will emphasize that late-term abortions are far more prevalent than most individuals imagine and are largely done for reasons that would appall them – that is because of social and economic circumstances.
We intend to put human faces on the tragedy of abortion. We will share the heartbreaking, personal stories of men and women who were victimized by the abortion industry and experienced late term abortions – abortions that would be stopped with the Mississippi legislation.
Second, we will demonstrate that America’s abortion laws are extreme compared to the rest of the world. The US is one of only seven nations that allows abortion until birth. We are in the unfortunate company of ruthless countries like China and North Korea. Further, America has outpaced the “progressive” values of 94% of Western European nations that limit abortion to under 15 weeks.
Roe was based on science that is a half-century old. We will stress the need to follow modern medicine when crafting America’s laws governing abortion.
Third, we will reveal the stunning beauty of the developing baby in the womb at fifteen weeks, the point at which Mississippi’s law would end legal abortion. For example, babies have fully developed hearts that pump 26 quarts of blood each day. They can taste, swallow, and suck their thumbs. Babies at this age already demonstrate a preference of using a right or left hand. They can feel pain, including the pain of a violent and deadly abortion.
Life Issues Institute will produce two half-hour radio specials that fully utilize this messaging. In the past we have depended upon the good will of Christian radio broadcasters to donate airtime. This project will pay for placement on targeted radio stations to reach major metropolitan areas. Our messaging will prioritize secular stations.
The Broadcast Footprint
We plan to air the first program in April on each of our targeted networks and radio stations during prime weekend programming. The second program will air in early June on the same stations and networks while interest peaks before the Court makes its ruling public, traditionally at the end of June.
Why radio? In spite of the many forms of communication available today, radio reaches 92% of the population every week.
Our Strategic Digital Plan
It’s not enough to produce quality programming. We must reach the widest possible audience. Digital promotion allows us to target specific audiences while accurately measuring its impact.
Life Issues Institute will create two distinct social media campaigns. One targeted for a secular-based audience, the other for a Christian-based audience.
We will use both the audio and video footage of our guest interviews. Each will be formatted into customized brief messages that will strategically target audiences on social media. Our goal is to reach an additional hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners. They will be directed to a website landing page to watch or listen to the full interviews and have access to related educational resources.
Both campaigns will take the most compelling clips from the full radio segment and repackage them for social media. We will create short engaging videos and advertise them to a geo-targeted audience that closely matches the broadcast reach of the radio stations in both campaigns. Digital promotion allows us to know exactly how many views, visits and engagements took place.
The more Americans understand the truth of abortion, the more they will reject abortion. Pro-life education is the foundation on which we will change hearts and minds and move people to defend the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.
Our thanks to the many donors who made this major educational push possible.
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