When is a pro-life supporter not a pro-life supporter? Why, when Democrats say so, that’s when.
Lost among the sound and fury that have accompanied this year’s races is California’s Proposition 1. On the face of it, it is not a big deal, especially in California. Should it pass, the state’s constitution would be amended to say that the state government cannot interfere with a person’s right to have an abortion or use contraceptives. Given the nature of California, it is a shoo-in to pass, and it appears to be largely cosmetic since those rights are already protected by the state anyway. So there is no reason why you should have heard of it.
But, the Democratic Party created a video supporting Prop 1, and Governor Gavin Newsom and the once-and-future Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton both shared it on Twitter. It featured a shot of Macy Petty, a young pro-life activist and a member of Students for Life of America. She was in tears. They were tears of joy over the Dobbs decision, but the people who produced the video used her image to imply that she was mourning the Supreme Court ruling. The video begins with the words “We are mad, sad, and scared.” The image of Petty sobbing appeared with the word “sad.”
Hey Hillary, I’m the girl crying in this video. I am pro-life and those are HAPPY tears because I just witnessed a MIRACLE! @HillaryClinton @GavinNewsom #prolife https://t.co/rlnEhdB6yg
— Macy Petty (@macypetty0416) October 20, 2022
According to Petty, in order to get the shot, someone had clipped it to essentially edit out the pro-life signs surrounding her, including the banner that she held. Petty was furious and even penned a note to the Prop 1 campaign, Newsom, and Clinton, which she shared on Twitter:
To the Yes on Prop1 Campaign and its supporters including, but not limited to, Hillary Clinton and Gavin Newsom:
In your #yesonprop1 campaign video, you included a clip of me, Macy Petty, crying in front of the Supreme Court. In the full video, it is obvious I am crying tears of joy upon the announcement of the Dobbs decision. I am holding a “Students for Life” banner and am with friends who are also holding pro-life signs.
In your campaign video, you portrayed me in an evil light and distorted my emotions as part of your political game.
You selected the portion in which I fell to my knees in tears. At this moment, I witnessed a miracle. I was overwhelmed. As I continued to witness history, I pondered how lucky I was to witness such an event. I thanked the Lord for this decision and for opening my eyes to the evil of abortion. This is what brought me to tears.
You have manipulated these emotions. You have disrespected me as a woman and an engaged member of society. Although I am distinctly pro-life in the full video, you consciously chose to portray me as pro-abortion. In the video, you note “we” are “sad.”
I am not “we.” I strongly oppose Prop 1. Do not include me in your efforts to further manipulate women and violently take life from the most vulnerable and innocent among us.
Earlier this week, many shared this video of me. The list included both Hillary Clinton and Gavin Newsom.
I demand you remove me from the Yes on Prop 1 campaign video and all further pro-abortion materials. I will not stand by as you use my face, my tears, and my passion in a way that promotes demonic activity.
Could you not find an early 20-year-old who was truly sad about the Dobbs decision? You must manipulate the film of an obvious opponent to your campaign? Perhaps this is the indicator that America is truly pro-life.
Please remove me from all of your campaign videos and promotional materials immediately. If you truly value democracy and diversity of opinion, you will halt this blatant manipulation and apologize for the indecency.
Respectfully,
Macy Petty
I applaud Petty’s courage. Going up against the abortion rights movement, Gavin Newsom, Hillary Clinton, and Democrats in California, in general, is an act of bravery. And it got results. In an op-ed for the Daily Caller, Petty notes that a subsequent version of the ad did not include her image. But the original is still circulating, and Newsom and Clinton have left the first version up.
So Winston Smith is still toiling under his pile of metal cylinders in his cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, pounding out the words: “Americans are pro-choice and have always been pro-choice.” And we’re also at war with Oceania, too, in case you were wondering.
What is particularly galling about Petty’s case is that the creators/editors of the Prop 1 propaganda piece could have trained their cameras on any person in what I am sure was a plethora of anti-Dobbs or pro-choice gatherings taking place in California or anywhere around the country for that matter. Or if they were too lazy to get off their butts and shoot video, they could have called any TV station in the nation to get what they needed. Or they could have found any number of stock video shots or stills of women crying. Those are everywhere and are available for pennies or even for free. Or they could have just had Google “donate” something.
But they didn’t. They made a conscious choice to steal someone’s image to lie. I realize that footage of someone at a protest, demonstration, etc., could be considered in the public domain, so I use the word “steal” because California Democrats used it completely out of context to make their point. Or maybe it was a snarky, left-wing middle finger aimed at Petty. An act of contempt or a lame attempt at bitter irony. Perhaps it was an ominous reminder that they would be back one day, and when that day arrived, pro-lifers would be shedding tears of sadness.
Or maybe they just didn’t care. Anything to move the narrative forward, right Democrats? After all, when lying has become second nature, it isn’t lying anymore, it is just standard operating procedure for achieving the “greater good.” People are products, a means to an end, a bourgeoisie to be eliminated, or a proletariat to be exploited.
Except Macy Petty refuses to be eliminated, and more to the point, she refuses to be exploited. She knows all about the hellfire that Twitter users can unleash on someone who deviates from the acceptable line. She knows that she is facing not just one, but multiple Goliaths with nothing more than a sling. Macy Petty could have stayed an anonymous face in the pro-life movement. And she could have been upset that her image was co-opted and left it at that. But instead, she opted for that uniquely American but all too rarely used tradition of standing up to tyrants and liars, no matter the collateral damage. The Leftists like to call it “speaking truth to power,” except when it is applied to them.
Even if conservatives prevail on Tuesday, we will always need Macy Petty and people like her.
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