The pro-lifers were outnumbered and backed into a corner at this year’s annual face off between pro- and anti-abortion protestors at Harbord and St. George. A group of 25 from the Centre for Women and Trans People drowned out the five from U of T students for Life, as both sides chanted and waved posters.
Clad in pink shirts and raising placards that read “Women have the right to choose!” and “Choice matters,” protestors braved the heavy snow and passed out flyers and pins to students passing one of the highest traffic areas on campus.
The campaign by U of T Students for Life was not publicized, but pro-choicers say they found out about it early enough to prepare a counter-protest. The lifers, who held the event to protest the 20th anniversary of the Morgentaler Decision that legalized abortion, held posters reading “Abortion kills children” and chanted, “Women united will never be defeated.”
The pro-choice protestors said abortion is not the murder of a person, as defined by Canadian courts, a fetus is not legally considered a person. On moral grounds, they added, forcing a woman to have a child against her will is against Canadian values.
Students for Life also holds a yearly protest late in the winter semester called the Genocide Awareness Project, where they compare abortion to genocide. GAP has seen admin objections on campuses due to graphic images. At U of T, the annual protest traditionally takes place at St. George and Harbord.
