Conservative Midland woman funds “Abortion Barbie” posters in Hollywood

Poster in Hollywood funded by Midland conservative woman Kathryn Stuard (photo via Sabo) Poster in Hollywood funded by Midland conservative woman Kathryn Stuard (photo via Sabo) Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Conservative Midland woman funds “Abortion Barbie” posters in Hollywood 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — A poster depicting Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis as “Abortion Barbie” was unveiled in Los Angeles on Thursday in advance of her Hollywood fundraiser and bankrolled by a conservative Midland woman.

Kathryn Stuard told the San Antonio Express-News she donated an undisclosed amount to conservative street artist “Sabo” to create the posters, which portray Davis' face over a semi-naked Barbie doll with an exposed fetus in the womb.

The posters say: “Hollywood welcomes Abortion Barbie Wendy Davis” and have large pair of scissors next to the doll.

“It hits people with the truth,” said Stuard, 53. “The artist is very edgy… I do support (Greg) Abbott but the campaign had nothing to do with these (posters).”

Los Angeles street artist Sabo, who describes himself as a conservative and a Republican in online interviews, said he created and posted 20 of the posters for Stuard.

Sabo also created art posted in Los Angeles in March depicting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, more favorably. The poster showed Cruz as a cigarette-smoking, tattooed bad boy with the title “Blacklisted and Loving It.”

Cruz proudly tweeted the photo from his official account, saying: “Saw this, but noticed an error. So I wanted to make one thing clear: I don't smoke cigarettes.”

Davis is in Hollywood for a fundraiser hosted by celebrities such as director Steven Spielberg in Southern California. The tab for hosts is $25,000, while contributions range down to $1,000 at the “friend” level, reported Austin bureau chief Peggy Fikac.

Sabo sells the Cruz posters, which drew national attention, for $38 on his website UnsavoryAgents.com.

Much of Sabo's work attacks progressive leaders including President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and is often obscene in nature.

“There are very few people in Washington that I like,” Sabo said in an interview with The405Media.com. “But Cruz seems like a stand-up guy.”

Stuard, who is in the oil business, has been active in federal campaigns including donations to GOP presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Herman Cain, as well as a number of conservative PAC's.

The Davis campaign quickly attempted to tie the Barbie posters to Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott in a statement.

“Greg Abbott's refusal to denounce these nasty campaign posters is offensive but not surprising,” Zac Petkanas, a spokesman for Davis said in a statement. “This is just another in a long line of offensive actions and comments by Greg Abbott in an attempt to demean Wendy Davis and women across Texas.”

Stuard praised conservative blogger Eric Erickson for coining the moniker “Abortion Barbie” for Davis earlier this year after the Fort Worth state senator filibustered a restrictive abortion bill.

Sabo said his name comes from a firing device in a cannon called a “sabot” in the interview. He said he served “four painful years in the Marine Corps on a tank.”

Sabo's website, Facebook and Twitter accounts use the name “Unsavory Agents”. He posted a photo of himself, with his faced blurred out, in front of the posters.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker