Demonstrators for both the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice movement waved signs at the junction of Highways 18 and 44 on Sunday, though the former dwarfed the latter by a considerable margin.
About 50 to 60 members of the Pembina Pro-Life Society and other supporters – many of whom came from Barrhead and other communities outside of Westlock – carried out a silent demonstration while displaying signs that read “Abortion kills children” and “Pray to end abortion.”
They were contrasted by five considerably more vocal pro-choice supporters, who shouted slogans with a microphone along with waving signs that read “Abortion is a responsible choice.”
One of the Pro-Choice protestors, Jennye Blain, did bare her breasts at the intersection for several minutes. Otherwise, the demonstration was unremarkable, with both sides departing quietly at 3 p.m.
Pembina Pro-Life president Wes Wierenga said they conduct a silent protest to remember the deaths of the unborn, who cannot speak for themselves.
Wierenga said he believes such roadside demonstrations do force people to think about the issue; otherwise, they’re never confronted by it.
“Even if it saves one life, it’s worth it,” Wierenga said.
Wierenga said there were roughly 150 people at the Barrhead demonstration on Saturday and others recalled greater turnouts at the Westlock demonstration in other years.
Following an article that appeared in the Westlock News on Sept. 30 stating there may be topless protestors on the Pro-Choice side, Wierenga said a number of people did not want their children exposed to such a sight. As such, there were a number of people who stayed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church to pray.
Brenda Skuban was among those didn’t bring her children to the protest because of the potential vulgarity.
She said they just wanted to show what they believe in and not be shouting at people.
A number of immediate relatives of former Pembina Pro-Life president Toni Seguin, including her grandchildren, showed up to demonstrate their support.
Claude Seguin was among those family members, driving over two hours from St. Paul to “stand up for the rights of the unborn” and show life is precious.
Others simply took it upon themselves to show solidarity. Mikaela Tiggelaar, who hails from Barrhead, said she had heard about the Pro-Life demonstration in Westlock and felt they needed the support here.
Jennye, who was also clad in the colours of the LGBT flag, said she bared her breasts to show women have the right to their own bodies.
She called the Pro-Life demonstration “kind of a travesty of justice, arguing they want more children to end up in foster care or for women to die in botched abortions.
“It’s a terrible evil that they’re holding these signs,” she said.
Holding up a sign that said “Ask your MP about RU-486, she said the Pro-Life movement was responsible for not allowing the RU-486 “abortion pill” in Canada.
Erin Shaw, who also took part in the protest, said they didn’t want to be seen as “confrontational.” Her main goal was to alert people to the World Health Organization’s website, where they could find neutral and unbiased information on the topic.
Shaw shouted out the name of the website through a loudspeaker and occasionally addressed the Pro-Life protestors directly, at one point running through an old George Carlin routine about abortion.
Shaw said that illegal abortions ultimately result in the loss of life when they’re done in unsafe conditions. Even when physicians are involved, they still present risks to the women involved due to their illegal nature.
At the end of the protest, the Pro-Choice supporters thanked everyone for showing up.
