I saw the ads and thought, "Well, whatever..."

This woman had a slightly different take.

Her description of the teenaged mother wearing a sweater in the snow is what really said "D.C." to me.

I think most people see the small children and babies on the buses and metro trains as a mildly annoying distraction. I never get over it though. Some two year old trapped on a dirty bus, no stroller, no time to play, nothing to do but try to get the attention of an exhausted-looking mom.

Where I'm from, two year olds travel lazily perched in a huge stroller, with eight different toys and snacks at hand.

Not here. It hurts to see the little heads bobbing down the metro escalator stairs. Kids who can barely stand up on their own, shuffling behind 21-years-old-at-the-most moms. Kids who obviously hate the whole thing, being dragged to day care or a relative's house way too early in the morning, all to fit into some $6 an hour employer's schedule.

This woman is right. Fuck billboard hypocrisy, "You deserve a chance to be a mom!" You deserve a chance to get a job that will let you buy a damn stroller. THEN be a mom.

And if you've already made the hard choice, without the bus placard's help? Then you deserve more than a "Yay! You're not an aborter!" message from some condescending jackass. They couldn't have spent the money for these ads on something like, providing day care for teenaged moms? Buying strollers for women's shelters? It had to be used to shame the women who want to have THE SEX?