“‘Ban abortion’ signs bewilder S.C.”

I repost without comment (but a little extra bolding) the article below, which appeared in my local newspaper today, in its entirety, given the possibility that it will mysteriously disappear from the paper’s website:

‘Ban abortion’ signs bewilder S.C. By JASON SPENCER – jason.spencer@shj.com

SPARTANBURG : They’re not your typical dating or psychic reading signs.

But along roadways across the state, they’ve been springing up:

“Ban abortion! Make raped women have babies. Vote Republican.”

The message is in white capital letters against a red backdrop.

The earliest reported sightings in Spartanburg County came early last Saturday, along S.C. 221 near the I-26 interchange. That’s just around the corner from Dorman High School, where the local Republican Party held its county convention, which featured six GOP presidential candidates.

According to”The Chaser,”a conservative Web log, by Monday the signs had been spotted in and around Greenville, Newberry, Seneca and”all over Columbia.”

The sprinkling of signs around the Midlands and Upstate comes on the brink of the first major Democratic events in that party’s primary contest : the first nationally televised debate between Democratic candidates was Thursday in Orangeburg, and the state Democratic Party convention is Saturday in Columbia.

Beyond the politics, some find the signs disturbing.

“I have an 8-year-old. She can read now. We’re driving down the road, and she’s going, ‘Daddy, what does that mean?’ “said Greg Hinson, whose family owns a rental property management business.

No one has claimed responsibility for the signs, and nothing on them indicates who paid for them or where they were printed.

And despite the tone, the signs’ intended impact isn’t totally clear.

Among Republican presidential candidates, some : like little-known presidential candidate John Cox : believe in banning abortion”without exception.”Cox often tells a story about his mother being raped, pointing out that he wouldn’t be here today if she were allowed to have an abortion.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., says favors abortion only in cases in which the procedure would save the life of the mother.

Other Republicans favor varying degrees of exceptions to outlawing abortion, some of them in the case of rape or incest.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has said that while he hates the procedure, he believes the decision to have an abortion should be made between a woman and her doctor.

All of those men were in Spartanburg this past weekend and also stopped at conventions in Greenville and Richland counties.

As to the intended message of the signs, Spartanburg County Republican Party chairman Rick Beltram said,”I have no idea.”

“Most mainstream Republicans would be offended by that : trying to make something graphic out of abortion.”

Spartanburg County Democratic Party chairwoman Liz Patterson called the signs”mean and malicious.”

“It’s a way to create anger on both sides, and that’s not the way it should be,”Patterson said.”Whoever did that did it to make a point and to stir up to confusion.

“It’s not the correct way to handle politics or issues.”

Either way, Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement director Don Arnold said that the signs were illegal and that if his employees saw them, they would be pulled up and destroyed.

Such signs are not supposed to be in the median or the public right of way. The only exceptions are political signs during election season, directional signs for churches or temporary real estate signs.

As for the”Ban abortion!”sign,”That’s not a political sign,”Arnold said.

“A political sign is put there by or for a particular candidate. Even though they may be pushing a Republican, Democratic or independent agenda, because they’re not speaking to a candidate but to an individual issue, those would be illegal signs.”

People caught putting up such signs face a misdemeanor charge, punishable by a fine (up to $500) on their first offense, Arnold said.

–Ann Bartow