Pro-choice protesters converge on pro-life event at Edmonton community centre

A number of pro-choice protesters gathered outside Edmonton’s Blue Quill Community League on Wednesday night to voice their opposition to a pro-life event being held at the community centre.

Demonstrators arrived dressed as “handmaids” from the Margaret Atwood novel and TV show The Handmaid’s Tale, and others carried signs opposing any potential infringement on abortion rights.

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“This is an anti-choice booking at a local community league,” said Kathy Dawson, a board member with the Alberta Pro-Choice Coalition. “This group is agitating to remove rights from people who can get pregnant — women and gender diverse people — we don’t think that that’s appropriate for community.

“A publicly-funded organization is obligated to uphold Charter rights and that includes the rights of women and LGBT people. And they shouldn’t be renting space to groups that seek to remove our rights.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A publicly-funded organization is obligated to uphold Charter rights and that includes the rights of women and LGBT people. And they shouldn't be renting space to groups that seek to remove our rights."

The pro-life event was part of the nationwide Operation 50 tour, which has a goal of replacing 50 pro-choice MPs in Ottawa with 50 pro-life MPs.

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0:56 MPs (minus Tories) give standing ovation to motion affirming support for abortion rights

Alissa Golob, co-founder and executive director of the pro-life organization RightNow, said that while the issue can be very divisive, she believes many Canadians have concerns with abortions, particularly late-term abortions and sex-selective abortions.

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Golob said she respected the protesters “right to be there.”

“I do acknowledge that there are those that don’t agree with us on that issue, and some of the other places where we’ve had counter-protesters, we’ve had discussions and we’ve talked and we’ve reached that common ground and I think that’s really important.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I do acknowledge that there are those that don't agree with us on that issue, and some of the other places where we've had counter-protesters, we've had discussions and we've talked and we've reached that common ground and I think that's really important."

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Dawson said she believes Golob’s group is working to threaten people’s Charter rights when it comes to abortion.

While many of the protesters voiced their opposition outside the community centre, some entered the building and police were called in to ensure the situation did not escalate.

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