Twitter Bans Pro-Life Group Ads Unless Ultrasound Images Are Deleted

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Instagram/@LilaGraceRose
Dr. Susan Berry

National pro-life leader Lila Rose announced that Twitter has again banned both of her accounts and that of her organization from all ads.

“When we asked why, @Twitter said we could resume ads only if we deleted the following content from our Twitter AND website:

-Anything about abortion procedures

-Investigations of Planned Parenthood

-All ultrasound images

Rose’s organization Live Action has been battling the social media giant for several years over what it views as discrimination against the pro-life perspective.

In June 2017, Live Action noted Twitter called its pro-life messages “offensive and inflammatory.”

“What exactly is Twitter calling so offensive and inflammatory?” the group asked. “Tweeting a picture of a child developing in the womb and saying that we believe in the right to life. Or tweeting ultrasound images, like the ones that most expectant moms hang on their refrigerator doors.”

Live Action observed the platform informed them the group would need to delete not only all ultrasound images of unborn babies, but also all tweets calling for an end to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and those related to undercover investigations of the abortion vendor.

In October 2017, Breitbart News obtained exclusive emails that documented Twitter’s disapproval of pro-life politicians, including current Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who was campaigning for her seat in the U.S. Senate at the time.

According to the report:

Twitter censored one of Marsha Blackburn’s twitter videos, in which she proudly defended her pro-life record. In the censored campaign ad, Blackburn said that she “stopped the sale of body parts.”

…

In the email exchange, a social media team asked Twitter why they suspended Rep. Blackburn’s campaign ad over the weekend for allegedly not following Twitter’s ad policy. Blackburn’s ad featured her opposition to Planned Parenthood and abortion.

The Twitter representative replied, “Yes – it appears that the line in this video specific to ‘stopped the sale of baby body parts’ has been deemed an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction. If this is omitted from the video it will be permitted to serve.”

Planned Parenthood and its allies have taken states to court over laws that require an ultrasound prior to an abortion, claiming such laws intend to shame women into not having the procedure.

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the United States. A paper published in August 2017 at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute revealed Planned Parenthood obtains 35 percent of the U.S. abortion market, a figure that well overtakes the market shares of leaders in other industries:

In September 2018, Rose penned an op-ed at USA Today in which she accused Twitter of a double standard.

“Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion groups freely advertise, while pro-life ads are marked as ‘offensive,’” she wrote. “That double standard should worry all of us.”

In the same month, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared before House Energy and Commerce committees as he continually referred to his company as a “public square,” yet he also argued he had the right to remove lawful content that is also protected by the First Amendment.

Rose asserted in her op-ed:

Twitter’s actions suggest it’s OK for Planned Parenthood to tweet that a woman has a right to an abortion, but when I tweet and try to promote that a baby has a right to life, Twitter considers that inflammatory.

Twitter’s actions suggest it’s fine for Planned Parenthood to tweet that taxpayers who don’t want to fund the nation’s largest abortion chain are “extremists,” but when I tweet that there are alternative options to Planned Parenthood, Twitter calls that an offensive violation of policy.

“We should all be wary when an entity that was supposedly created to democratize speech actually wants to control it,” she concluded.

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