TORONTO, July 13 (LSN) Anti-Racist Action (ARA), an extremist group banned from Toronto-area schools, organized the pro-abortion confrontation this past Saturday that saw 11 pro-abortionists arrested. One of the young people was charged with assaulting a police officer, not surprising, considering the group’s reputation for violence and hate. A number of the protestors carried signs hiding baseball bats but surprisingly charges were not laid over the carrying of these weapons.
The Toronto police has linked the international group to violence in the past and even the Canadian Human Rights Commission has seen the need to distance itself from the group, pulling their name from an anti-racism poster they produced last year. The Toronto chapter of the group is the most militant and maintains a very inflammatory website.
The ARA’s dominant theme is opposition to fascism. Judging by the issues it targets, however, it defines a fascist as anybody who opposes abortion, homosexuality, affirmative action-type initiatives for visible minorities, and “women’s rights.” It counts as its enemies the Reform Party, BC Report magazine, and the conservation group, OFAH (the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters). They also target the police. An article in the Fall, 1997 issue of their publication, On the Prowl, included an article title: “Police: Deadliest perpetrators of hate crime.”
Considering the extreme nature of pro-abortion activism, it is not surprising – though it is very unfortunate – that groups like CARAL (the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League) and the Ontario Coalition of Abortion Clinics would associate themselves with such a dangerous fringe element of society.
The pro-abortion protest was designed to counteract the pro-life silent Show the Truth demonstration that was held at the same time near the Ontario Legislature. No pro-lifers were violent or arrested.