‘The View’ abortion ad signals wider effort to use an FCC regulation to spread a message

AP Media Writer

The advertisement on “The View” this week, preceded by a warning from ABC, was shocking: condemning celebrities for supposedly promoting abortion rights and showing images of dead fetuses. It’s a manifestation of a wider anti-abortion campaign that makes use of a federal law that forbids broadcasters from turning it down. The campaign is using similar ads across states where abortion regulations are on the ballot and are bankrolled by longtime anti-abortion activist Randall Terry. He’s a fringe candidate for president who knows the FCC prohibits broadcasters from turning down ads from candidates for office who meet certain criteria. He’s got dozens of similar ads ready to go for the last weeks of the campaign.