Every year for the past ten years, Pro-Choice Moncton has peacefully assembled in Dieppe to counter-protest the annual Life Chain demonstrations that occur across the country. The “40 Days of Life” campaign runs from September 22nd to October 31st, which culminates in a mass public demonstration where anti-abortion protestors gather in public displaying signage or silently praying for the sake of their cause.
While the word “protest” may conjure images of people shouting in megaphones or in each other’s faces, Tasia Alexopolous from Pro-Choice Moncton and the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada assures that the demonstrations are generally peaceful on both sides, save for a few graphic images sometimes displayed by those attending the Life Chain.
“They often have signs. Some of the signs have images, and they’re anti-abortion messages and images…Pro-Choice Moncton shows up for the hour, and we bring affirmative signs. Signs that respect people’s choices, whether or not they choose abortion, and we just hang out on the opposite side of the street for an hour. It’s really fun and peaceful, we don’t really call it a protest. It’s more of just an event so that people who are driving by who see these really upsetting anti-abortion messages can look to the other side of the street and see some affirming messages.”
The group will gather this year, with the ongoing difficulty with abortion access in New Brunswick in mind. The limited options for the medical service has become campaign promise for many federal election candidates, again.
“We’ve seen promises, as we did in the last election, from each of the parties about abortion,” says Alexopolous. “We’ve also seen a lot of misinformation. We’ve seen Erin O’Toole come out and say he’s pro-choice, while simultaneously saying that he believes that abortion access is fine… We’re seeing abortion being used kind of as a political football, which is I think, for many of us who do this work all year, is quite distasteful. We haven’t seen a lot of action on the promises that were made in the last election, so we are really hoping we’re positive and optimistic that the promises that are made now will be kept after the election. But in reality, it is kind of stuck. It’s just the status quo still in New Brunswick and across Canada.”
While the specifics of abortion access and policies may differ depending on the year, the general spirit of the Choice Chain remains the same, to counteract the anti-abortion signs lining Dieppe streets.
Alexopolous will be in attendance at the Choice Chain on behalf of Pro-Choice Moncton this October 3rd, and encourages others to attend as well. There is a Facebook event, here.
Anyone struggling to find reproductive health services can call 2-1-1, which can redirect you to relevant services in your area, or the Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights Line at 1‑888‑642‑2725.
