Austin-based Omnicom agency GSD&M mobilized quickly last week after someone leaked a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old case in which the court ruled that state laws making abortion illegal were unconstitutional. 

The agency’s response is a campaign called Happy Forced Mother’s Day, which takes a firm pro-choice stand on the issue. 

I feel the same way, but it’s a particularly gutsy call for an agency to make, because not all clients or potential clients may feel the same way. And to the extent that the agency just doesn’t care about missing out on business because of political differences with clients, well, kudos to them for adhering firmly to their values.  

The agency believes "Forced Mom" is the first creative move in the industry in support of the right to choose.  

The campaign is anchored by a digital Mother’s Day card with a traditional design. On the front it reads “Happy Forced Mother’s Day.” The card opens and the interior text reads, “To the Mother who has everything except the right to choose…”  

The back of the card reads “This could be the reality very soon. FIGHT BACK,” accompanied by the web address “ForcedMothersDay.com.” There are several other card choices you can click on at the site created by the agency to host the campaign.

The agency team also designed a widget at the website that will load your local representatives’ names and contact info so that you can tag them with the card on social media or print it out and snail mail it to them.  

There are also links to organizations where supporters can learn more about reproductive rights. 

To help spread the word, the agency has shared the work on its social channels, including  LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. 

“So many of us have been commiserating about this on social media,” said Leigh Browne, creative director at the agency. “A friend of mine posted about how morbid Mother’s Day would feel this year and that we should just call it Forced Mother’s Day. As soon as I saw those words,” Browne said, she shared them with Jon Williamson, also creative director at the agency and a collaborator on the effort. “We knew that was the idea. And everyone does cards for Mother’s Day — so that felt like the perfect way to bring this idea to life.” 

Hopefully more like-minded agencies will step up with their own ideas promoting choice. A number of surveys have found a majority of Americans are pro-choice on this issue and Congress and SCOTUS need to hear the message loud and clear.