BOSTON — An organizer behind a controversial free speech rally planned for Saturday on the Common announced Wednesday afternoon that the group has obtained a permit from the city.
A 23-year-old Fitchburg State University media and communications student named John Medlar, who has emerged as a spokesman for the group, dubbed "Boston Free Speech,"told reporters that his organization wants to "promote good arguments from both the left and right" and wants to "promote people getting together around the shared constitutional values that form the basis of our society."
This summer, a coalition of center-right groups launched a signature drive to try to make it possible to stop taxpayer funding of abortion in Massachusetts. In response, the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts commissioned a misleading poll which purportedly shows strong public support for government funding of abortion among Bay State residents. This poll has been favorably covered by a number of local media outlets including the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. (The Telegram & Gazette apparently liked the State House News Service wire story so much, they ran ittwice.)
The main problem with the Planned Parenthood poll is the wording: it asks about helping low-income women access abortion instead of asking about taxpayer funding for abortion. Indeed, other polls with more precise wording consistently show that majorities oppose having their taxpayer dollars pay for elective abortions. For instance, a 2016 poll conducted by Politico and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that 58 percent of likely voters oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
