1,000 expected at B.C. legislature rally

By Cleveland Stordy

When hundreds of pro-lifers rally at the Victoria legislature next week, the focus won't be on only the unborn.

Ryan Bushby / Wikimedia Commons Organizers are hoping these empty lawns in front of the legislature will be filled next week with crowds of people proclaiming that abortion is harmful for mothers as well as their unborn babies. The Thursday, May 8, B.C. rally has been timed to coincide with marches in Ottawa and several other provinces.

Women's lives will be central to the first-ever March for Life at the B.C. legislature May 8, and organizers are hoping to send the message that abortion harms women in addition to their unborn children.

Organizers: Prolife BC, Campaign Life BC, and the B.C. Knights of Columbus, are determined to keep the message positive and non-condemning. They are advising participants to use the signs provided and not ad-lib their own messaging.

"A women-centred theme resonates well with our culture," said Natalie Hudson of Pro Life BC. Abortion is not a woman's right, and in fact it's extremely detrimental to her health, both physically and mentally."

The march was timed to coincide with marches in Ottawa and in several other provinces.

Before the march many of the participants will gather for Mass in St. Andrew's Cathedral at 11 a.m. The first March for Life in Western Canada will begin at 1 p.m. at Centennial Square. Participants will gather at the corner of Pandora Ave. and Douglas St. before making the one-hour march for life to the legislature. Organizers are hoping as many as 1,000 supporters of life will join forces for the unborn.

When they arrive they will hear speeches and entertainment by students from Trinity Western University and Redeemer Pacific College.

Speakers at the rally will included Hudson; her sister-in-law Sarah Hudson, the western Canadian organizer for Campus Life Network, which does pro-life work on university campuses; Senator Gerry St. Germain; pro-life activist Heather Stilwell; and Bishop Richard Gagnon of Victoria.

Natalie Hudson said she will talk about the health risks for women associated with abortion, which she says the news media have woefully underreported.

She cited a 2006 study by New Zealand psychologist (and self-described atheist) Dr. David Fergusson that found "those having an abortion had elevated rates of subsequent mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviours, and substance use disorders."

Organizers are hoping that Eduardo Verastegui, the star of the Mexican-American pro-life movie Bella, or the film's producer, Leo Severino, will participate.

The March for Life was conceived last year at the 2007 National Pro-Life Conference in Moncton, N.B. Dan O'Hara, Knights' State Deputy of B.C., was speaking at the event when he announced that a Knights-supported March for Life would take place in every province.

Around the same time, Hudson had been thinking along the same lines. "It was one of the things on our agenda," she said.

Funding issue is provincial

"When we came to learn that the Knights were on board, then we realized that it was a doable project."

In holding the march in Victoria, "we are drawing attention to the fact that abortion needs to be brought to the attention of legislature," said Hudson.

The march was scheduled for a workday "because we want to let the MLAs know we are still here," said Hudson. While the question of the legality of abortion is a federal one, the issue of funding the operation is provincial.

"It's relevant provincially because the provincial government chooses to allocate funds for abortion," funding "private abortion clinics with taxpayers' dollars," she said.

Addressing the needs of women is an effective way to open the eyes of citizens to the reality of an injustice that pervades the culture, she said. While it's natural to "focus on the death of the baby," said Hudson, "it serves us to recognize that it's extremely detrimental to women's lives as well."

Pro Life BC works to educate the public about pro-life issues; it works with Campaign Life Coalition BC, which has brought a political focus to pro-life work for the past 20 years.

Campaign Life president John Hof said the reason for the March for Life is to "let the legislature know that abortion and pro-life have not gone away; these issues will continue to be raised, and as long as 15,000 British Columbians die every year we will be there to raise our voices."

Steve Weatherbe in Victoria contributed to this story.