'The View' abortion ad signals wider effort to use an FCC regulation to spread a message

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In a disclaimer that posted onscreen, ABC made clear it was holding the message at arm's length: “The following is a paid political Ads are the work of a longtime anti-abortion activist Longtime anti-abortion activist Randall Terry is behind the ads. Under Federal Communications Commission regulations, broadcast stations “are prohibited from censoring or rejecting political ads that are paid for and “This is the last bastion of free speech,” Terry said in an interview. CNN, which is not required to show the ad and said it wouldn't meet its standards anyway, issued a statement calling it “outrageous, antisemitic and dangerous.” Terry already has another ad — featured on his website but not yet on television — that specifically targets CNN's Jake Tapper. “No one should be able to use running for office as a free pass in order to spew hate speech.” Terry is probably more attuned than any activist to the use of FCC rules to help spread his message, said Jack Goodman, a Washington lawyer and former general counsel of the National Association of Broadcasters.