Abortion protest

[millera]

Hi I’m new to the site and was wondering if I could get some information from you guys for a school project that I am doing. I am writing a paper on abortion protest, and needed information from any person that has been a part of a protest. If you would be so kind, please respond to the following questions. If you have not been a part of a protest, I would love to hear your views on some of the other questions.

What did you do for your protest?
How was the protest organized?
Was it a peaceful protest or did it turn violent?
Was there any result from your protest?
Will you protest again?
What do you beleive of the current political ideas about abortion, and do you beleive that it will soon change?(everyone please respond)

Thank you guys for all your help

 

[Gamera]

Hi, Millera. I’ve been in probably 200 protests outside abortion centers over the past 20 years.

What did you do for your protest?

Usually march outside an abortion center on a day when abortions are performed. Some people carry signs, others hand out pro-life literature, others speak to people entering or leaving the building.

How was the protest organized?

Usually by a community pro-life organization. Every community large enough to have an abortion facility will have a local pro-life group. Protesters receive specific instructions on the “Do’s” and “don’t’s” of peaceful demonstration.

Was it a peaceful protest or did it turn violent?

Always peaceful on our part. Hecklers sometimes insult us or call us names, but only once have I been present when a pro-life demonstrator was physically accosted (just shoved — he wasn’t injured). Normally the harassment we receive is not from the abortion center staff, nor their clients, but from passers-by. Of course, there are other passers-by who offer us encouragement.

Was there any result from your protest?

It’s hard to tell the results of each particular protest – rarely will anybody actually come up to you and say, “I’ve changed my mind about getting an abortion because of you.” But the collective effect of continually speaking out in support of babies’ lives is undeniable.

Will you protest again?

Yes.

What do you beleive of the current political ideas about abortion, and do you beleive that it will soon change?(everyone please respond)

It’s hard to predict future social changes. The pro-life movement enjoyed a strong upswing in the early to mid 1990’s which I never saw coming. But even if Roe v Wade is overturned, the likely result won’t be a national ban on abortion but rather a return to the pre-Roe situation where each state decided what abortion regulations to pass. So no matter what the US Supreme Court does, this issue will remain with us for the foreseeable future.

millera:

Thank you guys for all your help

Sure thing. Good luck with your paper.

 

[SaintNobody]

I’ve been in several pro-life protests, mostly LifeChain and the March for Life.

The last one I went to was LifeChain 2007. This involved thousands of people across Canada and the US. A couple of dozen of us stood at a couple of street corners and held up signs that said “abortion kills children” “adoption is the loving option” and “Jesus heals”. We prayed for about an hour.

The protest was organized by Campaign Life Coalition (Canada). The local Ottawa organization has “captains”-- people responsible for organizing the various corners in the city. The captain for my corner was a parish priest. He brought the signs.

It was totally peaceful. Sometimes people said nasty things. But there were no altercations whatsoever.

I do not know of any surefire result of my protest. One thing I do think it does is it provides something newsworthy for Lifesite and other newsgathering operations to report on. The fact that we all do it together shows that there is significant opposition to abortion, and that raises awareness.

I will certainly protest again, God willing.

Canada is different from the states regarding abortion. In Canada, legally speaking, it’s an abortion free-for-all. There are zero restrictions. Most Canadians would welcome some restrictions, but right now, it’s not an important enough issue for for enough Canadians for change to occur. Right now, we’re just trying to build momentum, and I think we’ve been somewhat successful at that. I do believe that in my lifetime there will be fetal rights legislation, but I cannot say if it’ll be soon. I know we can do it if we network and mobilize effectively. It’s totally possible to get something passed-- it’s just a matter of enough Canadians wanting it badly enough and organizing effectively enough. We have the numbers, just not the will. The pro-abortion feminists are the minority. They think they’re the majority because our institutions are radically left-wing, but they’re not.