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Susan B. Anthony List
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| In the back alley |
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly the Susan B. Anthony List) (not to be confused in any way with Susan B. herself, or the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin) is a anti-abortion group formed as a political action committee in response to the pro-choice PAC, EMILY's List. After four years of displaying political incompetence, they reorganized as a 501(c)(4) in 1997, and have been fighting the good fight since.
The Susan B. Anthony List claims that Susan B. Anthony, a 19th century women's rights activist, was anti-abortion. Never mind that it's fairly indisputable she did not voice any passionate views on the subject, but the SBAL has gone to great lengths to quote mine her writings. Scholars point out that abortion was not an issue of the day, that people knew abortions were being done, but it was something you ignored, knowing women have always sought abortion to end unwanted pregnancies.[1] Since Susan herself is dead, she is unable to sue for libel or slander.
During the 2010 election, the Susan B. Anthony List attempted to put up billboards containing bald-faced lies about a political opponent, Steve Driehaus of Ohio, claiming that by voting for Obamacare he had voted for taxpayer-funded abortion. Ohio has a law that specifically restricts campaigns from knowingly stating untruths about a candidate or an issue, so the group was restricted from putting up the billboards since Obamacare does no such thing, and there are already federal laws that specifically prohibit the government from using tax money for abortion.
But, rather than go slinking into a dark corner, as some might do if caught out in a lie, the Susan B. Anthony List sued the state of Ohio, claiming a First Amendment right to lie in campaign ads. The federal district court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled against them, but, unruffled by such minor setbacks, they are, in the true fighting spirit of Susan herself, marching on to take their case to the US Supreme Court.[2] They ultimately won their case and were allowed to put up their misleading billboards on the assumption that government shouldn't determine what political speech is considered true.[3]