Another day, another steaming load from the fetus fetishists, trying to be sneaky and failing miserably.
Case in point: last week something called “The Signal Hill” bullshitted its way through a press release that starts shriekingly:
Look, as soon as that kind of hyperbole comes into play — “up to the moment of birth” — anyone with their head screwed on just knows there’s fuckery afoot, and that fetus fetishists are at the bottom of it.
Dammit Janet did the heavy lifting to conclude that “The Signal Hill” was indeed associated with anti-choice activist types. A little more searching revealed that not only does TSH have some anti-choicers on board, but “The Signal Hill” is actually the new name for BC Pro-Life. Of course, that’s not something The Signal Hill/BC Pro-Life talks about in the “About Us” section of their website, since it would be counterproductive to their “re-branding”:
Papa’s got a brand new bag… of bullshit.
But not really.
One needs only surf around the website for a minute or two to realize that this is just the same shit in a new package. Links about “natural family planning” are a surefire indication that not only is “The Signal Hill/BC Pro-Life” opposed to abortion, they’re also against contraception. One page links to a vatican website, for fuck sake. But nothing to do with religion! Nooooo!!!
They’re trying hard, but the image of the drooling, rabid anti-abortion freak who hassles women at clinics and stands on street corners waving pictures of dead fetuses in the faces of passing drivers clings to the anti-choice movement like dogshit to the sole of a shoe. It’ll take more than a name change and a lower volume of shrieking to scrape it off.
However they package it, it’s still about authoritarianism and curtailing women’s rights, and no amount of “re-branding” and “reasonable and hip” language will ever make that acceptable. Which brings us to my signal to The Signal Hill:
UPDATE: DammitJanet! on the same. UPDATE the second: CC says "You can hide, but --"
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unrepentant old hippie 
Yee-haw! The Vicious Abortion Crusaders ride again! You are good, JJ.
W00T! You too.
This is funny — when you google “BC Pro-life”, the first hit is a single entry to “The Signal Hill”, but it 404’s. It gives a link to TSH site, but it really looks like it somehow got there by mistake. Ha! Stupid fetus fetishists, don’t get this interwebs thang too good.
Man, its nothing by lies and subterfuge from these cretins isn’t it?
Good job JJ.
Wow, you really have a strong case when you have to resort to lying and purposeful misrepresentation eh?
I’m confused: Signal Hill is in Nfld but this in B.C.? Oh, the layers of confusion and deceit!
It’s not like they don’t *know* that they’re putting on fluffy sheepskin over their little wolf hides. It seems a tacit admission that calling themselves pro-life is bad for business. Why else rebrand themselves to something more dog whistle code than plain english?
In an effort to help them clarify their mission and yet still avoid that distressing ‘pro-life’ phrase, I offer Shagnill Hell. After all, they’re not going to be happy until no one is sexing up, except maybe at their command. Because they certainly know what’s best for everyone. They’ll tell you so. Just under a new alias every year or so.
“… a language that is reasonable and ‘hip’ … ” like the ladies at ProWomanProLie use?
The trouble with dog whistle code is that some of us humans can hear it.
Tsk. They can’t seem to come up with new tactics, can they?
Yes, rebranding worked in the past when they replaced ‘anarchist’ with ‘libertarian’.
But that was before the internet made connections between ideas very easy to track down.
You can’t do that now.
Exactly. That’s why it always rubs me the wrong way whenever people like Suzie-All-Caps claim that the feminazis are the ones who can’t argue in plain English.
Mike – “Wow, you really have a strong case when you have to resort to lying and purposeful misrepresentation eh?”
That’s the thing I’ll never understand about these people. If I was so unsure of something that I had to lie about it, it would not be a cause worth championing.
I think it falls under the “We’re doing this for your own good” category. They know they’re being dishonest but they can justify it because in their minds, it serves some “greater good” that the rest of us are just too blind to see.
I only wish I was kidding.
brebis noire – There’s also a place called Signal Hill in California, which some preliminary googling has indicated is a bit of a hotbed of anti-choice activity. I’m not sure if there’s a connection, or it’s a coincidence.
Niles – “It seems a tacit admission that calling themselves pro-life is bad for business. Why else rebrand themselves to something more dog whistle code than plain english?”
It’s already common knowledge that being actively “pro-life” isn’t helpful for politicians in Canada — just look how Harper started out and where he’s at now: “We will not be re-opening the abortion debate”.
The PL movement has always had a real image problem. After 40 years they’re just starting to realize it and respond by trying to ingratiate themselves with “middle ground” people who might be a little uncomfortable with no abortion law, but who recoil from extremist anti-choicers.
Thus the “reasonable, hip” language, and the sneaky framing of their position as not pushing for a ban, but rather, pushing to make abortion a *bad choice*. (Increasingly, their language includes the co-opting of the word “choice”, it makes them sound so much more reasonable, y’know. It’s all about choice, nobody is trying to impose anything on anyone. Right.)
deBeauxOs – ““… a language that is reasonable and ‘hip’ … ” like the ladies at ProWomanProLie use?”
PWPL is a perfect example of the “new image” the anti-choice movement is trying to engineer for itself. The motto in their banner goes something like: “Canada without abortion — by choice”. Translation: we’re not wacky religious nuts who’d impose our beliefs on anyone… it’ll be a CHOICE. (Right.)
Meanwhile, reality check: at least a couple of them work for Focus on the Family (I have the sitemeter screenshots to prove it) and the “Institute for Marriage & Family” (which IIRC is just an astroturf of FotF anyway). So they’re not only anti-choice, they’re homophobic. (How hip and reasonable.)
It all boils down to the same thing we’ve always known about anti-choicers: they lie. It’s just that now they’re getting a little better at it.
orange – “The trouble with dog whistle code is that some of us humans can hear it.”
It doesn’t help them that they don’t cover themselves very well. Posting links to anti-choice whacko sites is always pretty much the old telltale sign that you might be a fetus fetishist.
From a marketing standpoint, I find this rebranding phenomenon just fascinating, but I can’t say they do a very good job at it. It reminds me of when I worked on a beer account and the target group was changing from 25-49 yr old men to 18-34 yr old men and women… it required a total overhaul of the marketing strategy, not just a new label and a rockin little jingle.
Rob – “Yes, rebranding worked in the past when they replaced ‘anarchist’ with ‘libertarian’.”
LOL, I’ll leave it to Mike to explain the nuances that differentiate anarchists and libertarians.
JAB – SUZANNE is in the habit of using semantics to back up her arguments — ie. “fetus is latin for little one, therefore a fetus is a little person!”
I know, it’s a stretch that Evel Knievel would have a hard time jumping, but that’s the nature of the beast. It’s why I always have aspirin handy whenever I go over there.
Yeah, I kinda noticed that.
…
SUZANNE’s not very bright, is she?
JAB – Well, I don’t think SUZANNE is stupid per se, it’s more like she’s blinded by ideology, as trite as that may sound.
The thing to remember when reading SUZANNE’s blog is that she is, first and foremost, a propagandist. Her blog isn’t really for the exchange of different ideas (although some interesting discussions go on there at times), it’s a venue for trumpeting the anti-choice party line. She’s said as much herself.
The reason I comment there isn’t because I think I’ll change any minds, but because I feel that bullshit needs to be called wherever it’s found. Just so they know — we’re watching.
OT – How do you make those blockquotes in your comments? By typing the html
Woohoo! Never mind that last question. Now
Yeah, that’s one of the advantages of WeirdPress and its mutations over Blogger — the range of HTML that you can use in comments is a lot wider.
to unrepentant hippie…if you are truly committed to pro-choice than why do you hide behind a server in Texas?
I am not sure why you are so against the fetus. You and I started as a fetus. It is one of the first stages of life. You wouldn’t abort a human at a child stage or an adult stage so why at the fetus stage. It is always so confusing to me why some people don’t see life for what it is, a life. Wel,l we are all free to express our opinions. I chose life and respect life at all stages. I love life and I love living it. I want to respect all people regardless of the stage of life they are in and encourage you to take a deeper look at what you are rebelling against, other people. Relax and enjoy life and if you ever get to meet a fetus, and you allow life to happen then you will get the chance to see the fetus at the baby stage and maybe the child stage. Chill out and live a happy life. Lo ve a little deeper.
It is interesting how you can call others down over something they really feel is important. It is not a vendication against you personally. It is that they love life and are concerned for the unborn. What is wrong with that? I know it has helped me to take a minute and understand why people feel so strongly about an issue that they would want to tell the world. You sound so mad in your comments and suggest there is a deeper root to why you are responding in such a retalitory way. Listen to what people are saying and you will learn a lot of life lessons.