Right to Life March in Ottawa

[DeterminedJuliet]

I don't know how much discussion value this will have, but I feel like I have to share this:

The fella and I ended up downtown today because it's his birthday and we wanted to have some lunch out. As we wandered around, we noticed that there was a surprising amount of police presence. They were on many corners, blocking off traffic. They had their lights flashing. They were turning cars off of the main stretches of roads. We decided to check it out when we heard someone mention a "march." As we started walking towards Parliament Hill we noticed someone with a sign - probably 4 feet by 6 feet,  with a bloody mangled fetus and a caption that said "10 weeks."

That's when I remembered that there is an annual Right to Life March in Ottawa. We decided to walk along the march route and, as we did, there were more and more graphic signs - bloody, dismembered fetus' every 15 feet or so. They lined the vacant streets. I made it my goal to look every single person who was holding a sign right in the eye as we walked past. Not one of them held my gaze for more than half a second.

We reached Parliament Hill and camped out across the main gates. There were organizers setting up speakers and police manning the gates when the march started flooding in. Thousands of people - the official organizers are now claiming on their website that it was over 20,000 people - but I'm not sure if there were that many. But definitely thousands. In the front there were a couple dozen women with "I regret my abortion" signs. Men with "Men regret lost fatherhood" signs. A teenage girl with a sign that said "Women who get abortions make me sick." A rowdy group of, what I am sure was a church youth group, passed us with a chant that I couldn't decipher. A woman next to us with gray hair shook her head and dragged her husband down the street, away from the commotion.

We decided to walk back along the march route and, as we did, we came across two lone women. They were facing the passing crowd with a sign that said "Choice". My husband and I stood across the intersection next to them and watched for a while as floods of people headed towards Parliament.  Most of the marchers ignored the women, though some of them increased the volume of their chants or gave them noticeable stink eyes. After a few moments, two men in suits showed up and appeared to indicate to the women that they had to leave. One of the women politely shook her head. The men kept talking, but the women ignored them. The men left.

After a few more moments a woman with a fetus sign approached the women, said something to them ( I couldn't hear what) and shoved her picture toward them. They exchanged a few words as the sign-woman repeatedly gestured to the image. After a few seconds, the woman with the sign left. A few minutes later, a man with a "Defend Life!" sign stormed up to them and said something (again, I couldn't hear what). I did, however, hear him shout "Burn in Hell!" as he rejoined the crowd.  

The husband and I decided to leave. Before we left we approached the two women and said "good luck". One smiled and said "Merci." The crowd was still coming as we hopped the bus home. It was surreal. Very surreal. Of course these people have every right to march or protest whatever they like, but seeing thousands of people, many of them with signs that specifically implicate "women". It was pretty startling. I didn't really feel like I was in Canada today.

[Ali]

DJ, it's good that you are planning to write for a living.  You're good at it!

The part that made me the saddest was the women with the "I regret my abortion signs."  Kind of like public humiliation as a form of penance. 

[Tank]

DJ, it's good that you are planning to write for a living.  You're good at it!

Very good at it.

[DeterminedJuliet]

DJ, it's good that you are planning to write for a living.  You're good at it!

Very good at it.

It's humbling to have such praise from two people that I respect so much. 

Today, after reading some follow-up coverage, I learned that all of the Catholic schools in Ottawa were given the day off to attend the march. It explains why there were so many young people there, though it makes me a bit uneasy to think that some of those kids might have been coerced into going. I also realized that my cousin, who lives here and is very involved in the Catholic community, was also probably there. It would have been a very strange occurrence if we had seen each other, both standing on the other "side" of the divide on this issue, as it were.

[McQ]

Right to Life.

Burn in Hell.

Makes sense to me....

Great piece, DJ.

[Sweetdeath]

I agree with Tank. I truly enjoy your writing. I'm so shocked to hear  this kind of story in Canada.

You are very brave to approach those loonies.

[Amicale]

Great writing and description, DJ. Thanks for posting this.

And thanks for going up to those couple of women with the 'choice' signs. I'm sure that in that sea of chanting, insane humanity, they were grateful for someone who noticed them and who wished them luck rather than everlasting torment. The friend I'll be staying with when I come up that way also got caught in this crowd. He said it was insane. There were different denominational groups praying and chanting, and signs depicting bloody fetuses everywhere. He said had I been there, I would have flipped my lid at them, and I believe him.

[Sweetdeath]

Great writing and description, DJ. Thanks for posting this.

And thanks for going up to those couple of women with the 'choice' signs. I'm sure that in that sea of chanting, insane humanity, they were grateful for someone who noticed them and who wished them luck rather than everlasting torment. The friend I'll be staying with when I come up that way also got caught in this crowd. He said it was insane. There were different denominational groups praying and chanting, and signs depicting bloody fetuses everywhere. He said had I been there, I would have flipped my lid at them, and I believe him.

I would have flipped my lid too x_x

[Guardian85]

DJ, stop writing so good. Makes the rest of us look bad.

And I'm all for the lid-flippin' thing!