A New Mexico man has set off a firestorm of controversy after putting up a billboard claiming that his ex-girlfriend has an abortion.
Last month, Greg Fultz put up a billboard showing him cradling the outline of a baby with the pro-life message, “This Would Have Been a Picture of My 2-Month Old Baby If the Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!”
The billboard was placed along the main road through Alamogordo, New Mexico, where Fultz lives.
Nani Lawrence, Fultz’s ex-girlfriend, took him to court over the sign on ground of harassment and violation of privacy.
Last week, court officials ordered that the sign be taken down by June 17. Now, Fultz, 35, is fighting that order on the ground of free speech and wants to bring the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
“As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech,” says Fultz’s lawyer, Todd Holmes.
“My argument is what Fultz said is the truth,” he said.
Like it or not, Holmes says his argument has been bolstered by the recent Supreme Court ruling saying that the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church are protected by the First Amendment.
Lawrence’s lawyer, Ellen Jessen, says her client did not have an abortion, but rather had a miscarriage, and that Greg Fultz’s billboard is an unlawful invasion of privacy.
“I think Fultz’s right to free speech ends where Nani Lawrence’s right to privacy begins. … Freedom of speech is not absolute,” she said.
“Her private life is not a matter of public interest,” she added.
Fultz claims that Lawrence was pregnant with his baby during their six-month relationship in 2010. He says that when their relationship ended, the baby was lost, but he doesn’t know whether it was the result of an abortion or a miscarriage.
Fultz says that Lawrence wouldn’t tell him what happened to the baby.
He claims his sign was part of a greater message and was not necessarily aimed at his ex-girlfriend.
“My original intentions when I started this campaign were quite simple,” Fultz said. “I just wanted to shed the light on pro-life issues and fathers’ rights. I have had no closure over my own personal loss and that’s where the billboard came into play.”
What do YOU think? Does Greg Fultz have the right to keep his billboard up, or does it violate his ex-girlfriend’s privacy?
[Image: CANI]
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