Calgary Journal Online

Pro-choice group pushes back with reaction to pro-life group’s billboard truck

Graphic artists Ben Rankel and Sasha Cameron contributed their skills to the creation of "Think," the comic book created by the Calgary Pro-Choice Coalition.

Photo by: Laura Wershler/Calgary Journal

The coalition is an ad hoc, grassroots volunteer organization dedicated to promoting and protecting sexual health and reproductive rights, spokesperson Jane Cawthorne, a pro-choice activist, author and playwright said.

Cawthorne said, “The truck violates what I believe to be community standards. People are fed up with watching the truck driving by, being accosted at their places of business.”

She added that the free comic book is intended to help “people think about what they can do if they find the truck offensive, as we did, and what they can do to bring an end to it.” It is being distributed in public places, at local events and online.

Graphic artists, Sasha Cameron and Ben Rankel welcomed the opportunity to contribute their skills to the comic book. They first saw the truck over a year ago on a hot July day while enjoying after work refreshments with friends on a restaurant patio in southwest Calgary.

“It was relentless. The truck drove up and down 17 Avenue, annoying everyone on the patio,” Cameron said. “At the time, none of them were aware who or what organization was behind the truck. “

“Think,” a 12-page publication, tells a story about the truck from the perspective of two twenty something women who are pro-choice. 

Rankel, a cartoonist, did the artwork. Cameron worked on character development and storyboarded the project. 

The main characters take issue with the images on the truck and with the organization behind it – the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, or CCBR.

Chandler Kerr, director of the project, is one of the people who drives the truck. He has seen the comic book online.

“In our view the number one problem is that people are not willing to talk about abortion. If the truck driving around town is getting this kind of reaction from abortion advocates, and the public is talking about it, yeah, that’s a good thing,” Kerr said.

The organization receives a number of calls from people who see the truck on the street. Callers hear a three-minute recording about the campaign and are invited to leave a message.

Although, about 65 per cent of messages left are complaints about the truck he considers this a positive response, because people are talking about abortion, he said.

According to CCBR’s website, the truck is “driven at peak traffic times to maximize the number of people exposed to the images.”

Alanna Wall was driving with her children down 14th Street S.W. over a year ago when she got stuck in traffic behind the truck.

Wall said, “I had been talking with my kids about reproduction and pregnancy, but had not introduced the concept of abortion, and the pros and cons, and the value choices around that with them.” 

Wall was upset that she had to explain what the photos were “right on the spot.” She said they went beyond freedom of speech and invaded her personal space.

“It’s one thing if I attended an event or did something of my own free volition where I encounter this and I can remove myself from it if I disagree with it or stay if I agree with it. I had no choice.”

“Think” includes similar stories of Calgarians who have seen the truck. All are based on true accounts told to Cameron, Rankel and Cawthorne. 

Cawthorne said, “I’ve heard comments such as ‘Thank you so much for doing this,’ ‘I want to get rid of it,’ ‘I laughed,’ ‘That’s so true,’ or ‘I didn’t know that’ and ‘It’s been helpful.’ ”  

The Calgary Pro-Choice Coalition has done a second printing of the comic book. It can also be viewed online at www.thinkprochoice.com.