I haven’t yet gotten around to writing about Saturday’s rally against Ken Epp’s Unborn Victims of Crime Bill (C-484), so I suppose now is about time. I’ve been sick (possibly due to exhaustion), but feel better today. Anyway, there is much to tell.
The rally went considerably well, I’d say. There were a few minor setbacks, but all-in-all, it was a pretty good day. Hell, I’m impressed that we put it together in such a short time. (Myself and the other organisers began planning Monday night, less than five days before the rally.)
We ended up having visiting professor Dr. Rebecca Stringer, a woman on behalf of Medical Students for Choice, and NDP candidate Linda Duncan speak, and they were all fantastic. We had issues with the PA system, but they were quickly fixed.
While the MCs from Adamant Eve were wrapping up, we experienced some backlash. For those of you unfamiliar with the bill and its background, it was inspired after the murder of Olivia Talbot, who was six months pregnant. Now, at the rally, Mary Talbot, Olivia’s mother and an avid supporter of the bill, showed up, and she was not happy.
Mary began telling us to get our facts straight: That pregnant women were not being arrested in America for drug addictions; that organisations such as the ARCC had retracted previous statements criticising the bill. I sympathise with Mary, of course. She’s obviously still grieving after a terrible loss. Nevertheless, that does not mean it is acceptable to lie. It would be interesting to see where she pulled that information, if anywhere.
I can understand why Mary would support the bill. She feels she lost her grandson, that the fetus in her daughter’s uterus was a child. No one can change how she feels. It’s important to note, though, that laws should not be constructed around how a person feels. The Unborn Victims of Crime Act is a dangerous law that should not be enacted. Furthermore, claiming the proposed law “has nothing to do with abortion” is a statement that could only possibly be believed through a very thick cloud of ignorance. Giving a fetus legal rights does have implications for abortion. It doesn’t matter that the bill has that section seven which states lawful and elective
abortion would be exempt; giving a fetus rights is the first dangerous step towards the recriminalisation of abortion.
Nevertheless, I digress. After a bit of a spat between the vocal members of the rally and Mary, she left. After that, the rally was basically over, with many people lingering to discuss and socialise, and interviews took place as well.
Overall, it was a great experience. I had never even attended a rally before, never mind organise one. I’m thinking about putting together a guide of some sort for people interested in putting one together, because I had no idea what to do before this. Of course, a guide is never as good as getting advice from someone directly, as another organiser and I discussed, but it helps.
