As it seeks to change hearts and save babies’ lives, according to its website, PLAA [Pro-Life Across America] until last year placed many ads on one company’s billboards in about 40 major cities, where many of the estimated 1,600 U.S. abortion providers are also located — resulting in hundreds of PLAA hotline calls that prompt referrals to pro-life agencies.

But in September 2023, that billboard provider, Clear Channel Outdoor, “soft canceled” its client of several decades — by moving the educational nonprofit into an “advocacy” category for which it would have to pay significantly higher rates. The company also initially required PLAA to identify itself in its ads similar to a political organization, including a “Paid for by” box, which might have jeopardized the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status. 

When PLAA — “The Billboard People,” as the pro-life organization is known — was renting billboards from Clear Channel Outdoor, PLAA received an average of 350 to 450 hotline calls per month, according to Kuharski.