Thousands of people gathered on Parliament Hill for the annual March for Life pro-life rally on May 12, with supporters calling for upholding the right to life for every human being from conception to natural death.
“The National March for Life, at its core, is a protest against the greatest human rights injustice of our age. Because of the urgency and importance of life issues like abortion and euthanasia, we have a duty to hold our legislators to account,” said Debbie Duval, CLC’s national capital organizer.
“The law must protect life, not sanction its termination.”
“Debates about abortion are characterized by phrases like ‘women’s rights’ and ’My Body, My Choice'—as if there wasn’t another human involved and whose rights must be taken into account,” CLC said.
“The preborn are real. They have already entered into this world, even though they may be hidden from us most of the time—revealed only in brief snapshots through ultrasound technology.”
At the rally, demonstrators were seen holding signs that read “I AM a human being” and “I AM equally human, equally valuable.”
Support from Pro-Life Parliamentarians
Led by Conservative MP Arnold Viersen, a group of pro-life parliamentarians also attended the March for Life rally to voice support for the movement, including Cathay Wagantall, Damien Kurek, Garnett Genuis, Glen Motz, John Williamson, and Kelly Block.“I’m happy to stand up for human rights. Human rights begin when the human begins. Modern science tells us that human beings begin when the sperm meets the egg, so human rights begin when the human begins. So I’m happy to stand up every day ... to defend human rights, including the human rights of the unborn,” Viersen said in a speech.
Wagantall also read a letter from Conservative leadership race candidate Leslyn Lewis, who was unable to join the rally in person.
“I want you to know that I stand with you. I stand with you in your fight to be heard by your government, as you call for action on behalf of the vulnerable and the unborn,” Lewis said in her letter.
“I know exactly what it’s like for a woman to be staring at the future you worked so hard towards and to suddenly find yourself pregnant at the beginning of your career. I remember person after person told me I had to choose my baby or my career,” she continued.
“I won’t pretend that it wasn’t a challenge to build a successful law career with a family but I am grateful every day that I did. My children have shown me the power of choosing life. I am pro-life. I believe every single life is intrinsic and undeniably valuable. I have never been ashamed to say that.”
Ontario Party Leader and former Conservative MP Derek Sloan also gave a speech, in which he applauded Lewis for being pro-life and chastised other Tory leadership candidates for backing abortion.
“I was disgusted that most candidates were tripping over themselves to brag about how pro-abortion they are. That’s very, very unfortunate,” Sloan said.
“It’s time that we say in this country that, to be a Conservative, you should be pro-life,” he said.
“We may disagree on how to get there, we may disagree on what policies should be used, we may disagree on whether the answer lies in politics or outside of politics in terms of addressing this culture of death. But the idea that someone could be entirely neutral on the issue, could be entirely hands-off when it comes to unrestricted abortion in this country, that is a shame, and frankly, it comes from cowardice.”
A counter-demonstration by a relatively smaller group of pro-abortion advocates also took place near Parliament.
The March for Life protest comes a week after the re-emergence of the landmark Roe v. Wade case in the United States, which has brought renewed attention to the issue of abortion on both sides of the border.
