It’s a baby, not a fetus. Such is the simple yet poignant messaging behind a new multi-million dollar ad campaign recently launched by Focus on the Family in an effort to change hearts and minds on the issue of abortion.
The non-profit organization’s “It’s a Baby” marketing campaign, which features a television ad, was released to coincide with the one-year anniversary (June 24) of last year’s historic Supreme Court case that reversed Roe v. Wade. Focus on the Family President Jim Daly said that the one-year anniversary of Dobbs was the “perfect moment” to launch the effort.
Watch”It’s a Baby” from Focus on the Family
“Millions will be talking about the issues surrounding the sanctity of human life over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Daly told Fox News that Focus on the Family is “always looking for compelling ways, even unexpected ways, to get the country talking about life.”
The 60-second “It’s a Baby” ad, which will run on television and digital platforms, features a variety of scenarios: A wife looks at the results of a pregnancy test and tells her husband, “We’re having a fetus!” A couple watches an ultrasound exam while mom touches the screen and says, “Hi, fetus.” A woman proudly wears a T-shirt that says, “Fetus on Board.”
“Call it what you want, but the truth does not change,” the commercial’s announcer says.
On the Focus on the Family campaign webpage, the organization states: “We love the word baby””because baby, it’s personal. It points to the joy of life ahead and all the things that make babies human. And it happens from conception.”
“Words are powerful things,” he explained. “They mean something. They matter. They are the building blocks of our understanding of our world, how we understand our world. To have truly informed discussions (on the issue of abortion), we have to be sure we’re using the right words.”
Daly lamented how culture has become too comfortable using “antiseptic scientific terms” to dehumanize a child in the womb. He is hoping the new campaign will change that trend. The Focus on the Family president also pointed out the way the Mayo Clinic describes a baby.
“Even the Mayo Clinic’s website, in an article taking prospective parents through the weekly development of their child, uses ‘baby’ to describe that child 37 times, from the moment of fertilization,” Daly told Fox News. “Our country’s most heralded medical institution knows it’s a baby. We want more Americans to realize that truth, too.”
In an article at Daily Citizen (Focus on the Family’s magazine), Staff Writer Zachary Mettler said that the campaign serves a great need: countering the abortion lobby’s anti-life messaging and advertising.
“It’s no secret that abortion is big money – Planned Parenthood rakes in over $1.9 billion annually,” Mettler wrote. “One year ago, the abortion seller announced a $16 million paid media campaign leading up to the Dobbs decision”¦ The pro-life movement may not be able to match abortionist’s advertising dollar for dollar, but we can work to counter the abortion side’s programming.”