The Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a full-page advertisement in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today asking the question, "What does the bible really say about abortion?"

The answer, as the ad puts it, is: "There is no biblical justification for the assault on women's reproductive rights."

The ad features a compelling portrait of birth control crusader Margaret Sanger, and her quote: "No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body." It documents that the bible does not condemn abortion and, in fact, "shows an utter disregard for human life." It reminds the reader: "We live under a secular Constitution that wisely separates religion from government, and protects women's reproductive rights."

The ad is funded and was largely written by Brian Bolton, a retired professor and Life Member of FFRF, in memory of FFRF's principal founder Anne Nicol Gaylor (1926-2015), who was propelled into freethought activism by her experiences working to legalize abortion in the late 1960s and early '70s. Gaylor observed that the battle for women's rights "would never end" until the root cause of women's oppression — "religion and its control of our government" — is challenged.

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor notes that the right to abortion remains a major political controversy, as exemplified by its prominence in the presidential debate this week.

The ad refers the reader for more information to Bolton's article "God Is Not Pro-Life" and FFRF's nontract "What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?" It ran earlier this year in the Austin American-Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the Tulsa World and in Wichita, Kan.

FFRF warmly thanks Brian Bolton, a professor emeritus who taught in Arkansas, for his generous support and commitment. Bolton also sponsors FFRF's annual graduate student essay contest.

For more information on biblical sexism and its reach into civil law, also see Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So, by Annie Laurie Gaylor, published by FFRF.