Priests for Life Launches Unprecedented Television Ad Campaign

Organization continues effort to inject the abortion issue into the 2000 election

(Washington, DC)… Priests for Life, the Catholic association which assists clergy of all denominations to address the abortion issue, today officially launched the first phase of a television advertising campaign aimed at lawmakers, candidates and voters during the 2000 election season. The television ads will be followed up by a mass mailing to every priest in the nation stressing political responsibility on the abortion issue.

The organization’s television ad begins airing today on major cable television stations in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Kansas City markets. The ads will air throughout the week during primetime programming.

"While many important issues are being discussed during this election season, none is more important than the protection of innocent human life," said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. "This ad campaign will make clear that defending the right to life is the most important obligation of every lawmaker, candidate and voter."

In the ad, Father Pavone speaks directly into the camera with the following words:

"Hello, I'm Fr. Frank Pavone. The United States Catholic Bishops, in their document Living the Gospel of Life, recently wrote that no public official can responsibly advocate for abortion.

If those elected to public office can't respect the life of a little baby, how are they supposed to respect yours?"

This first phase of Priests for Life’s television ad campaign is budgeted at $250,000. Priests for Life plans to spend as much as $1 million in television advertising before the November elections.

In addition, today there will be a powerful, full page ad in USA Today, in which Fr. Pavone demonstrates the connection between violent tragedies in our society like the Columbine High School massacre and abortion.

This week, Priests for Life will also be doing a special election year mailing to every priest in the nation, encouraging them to spread the message of political responsibility from their pulpits.

The Priests for Life grassroots campaign includes the following elements:

Phone banks to priests across the nation encouraging them to use the pulpit to highlight the important issue of life and the critical role it must play in the election.
Encouraging priests across the nation to personally visit with candidates and elected officials to bring them this message.
Encouraging pastors in every diocese to use homily hints and bulletin inserts, prepared by Priests for Life, on the theme of political responsibility.
Priests for Life and priests across the country will be writing op-eds and letters to the editor for their local newspapers.
Mass-produce and distribute Priests for Life's audio tapes and booklets, making extensive use of its website, www.priestsforlife.org.
Priests for Life will make this effort a major theme of Father Pavone’s syndicated diocesan newspaper columns and the organization’s newsletters between now and the election.
The organization’s five full-time priest associates will make the theme of political responsibility one of the main subjects in their weekly travels across the nation. In addition, they will distribute without charge large quantities of the Bishops' documents as well as all our audio-tapes and printed materials on this issue.
Continue to tape special radio and TV programs about the Bishops' documents and these themes, to supplement the shows we have been doing weekly on Catholic Family Radio and the 50 spots we taped for Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

For more information, or to interview Father Frank Pavone, please contact Adam Bromberg at (703) 683-5004.