A pro-life organization is fighting back after a leftist group ripped off its logo to promote so-called “abortion rights.”
40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney told The Daily Wire that the New Mexico group Pro Choice Las Cruces was illegally using his organization’s logo to push abortion. Carney said that he was prepared to sue the pro-abortion group if it did not stop using its proprietary material immediately.
In a pair of letters obtained by The Daily Wire, the 40 Days for Life legal team demanded that Pro Choice Las Cruces immediately cease using its logo. Those letters came after Pro Choice Las Cruces started mimicking the logo of 40 Days for Life on its Facebook page in September, an action that Carney called a “clear violation” of copyright law.
The pro-abortion group took the logo, added an illustration of a woman’s reproductive system, and changed the words from “40 Days for Life” to “40 Days for Choice.” The group also changed the motto from “The Beginning of the End of Abortion” to “The Beginning of the End of Oppresion [sic].”
Las Cruces is located at a key spot near the Texas border and is a popular destination for abortion tourism, Carney said. Neighboring states like Texas have enacted pro-life laws, pushing many to travel out of state to end the lives of their unborn children. New Mexico has no protections for the unborn in place.
40 Days for Life sent its first cease-and-desist letter on October 10, and another letter on Friday, warning the organization that it may be violating copyright law.
The letters were sent to Hailey Walker, a leftist activist linked to the Women’s March in Las Cruces. That organization shares a Facebook page with Pro Choice Las Cruces. According to Walker, the group responded to the first letter by refusing to stop using the logo.
“Given your response to our notice to cease and desist, it is clear your actions are willful and intentional. Pro Choice Las Cruces/Women’s March Las Cruces stole 40 Days for Life font, logo, name, colors and tagline in an intentional way to confuse the public,” a letter sent Friday by 40 Days for Life said.
Carney said that other leftist groups have co-opted their messages in the past and that his organization is prepared for further legal action. He said they would be ready to sue Walker “if need be.”
He also noted that instead of oppressing women, as Pro Choice Las Cruces suggests, pro-life activists support women by offering alternatives to abortion. 40 Days for Life often helps women considering abortions find free medical care alternatives.
“They feel unbelievable gratitude that we were out there and that we were willing to help them on what was a very hard day for them, and a day they never wanted to be in that position to be driving in for an abortion, but they were, and we didn’t judge them. We didn’t oppress them. We helped them and helped them with tangible alternatives,” Carney said.
In contrast, he said that the “left offers nothing with abortion” and feels threatened by the alternatives offered by groups like his.
Pro Choice Las Cruces has until October 20 to take down the logo or face further action from 40 Days for Life.
