April 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Thursday, April 3, a pedestrian passing the Robarts Library on the giant University of Toronto campus may have seen large pictures of aborted children. A group of pro-life volunteers, including pro-life activists Rosemary Connell and several students, had set up the signs around the busy intersection by the library. The signs, provided by GAP (the Genocide Awareness Project), were intended to draw attention to Canada’s inconsistent treatment of abortion and the truth of the humanity of the unborn child.
“When you deny that a child is conceived, that there’s a child, right there, there is no other place to draw that line,” said Rosemary Connell of Show the Truth. “Who puts it there? Who puts it at 26 hours? Who puts it at two months?”
On one picture, an aborted child and a prematurely born child of the same age are shown together, with the captions “Unwanted child” and “Wanted child.” On another a whale being butchered is shown beside a child, with the caption, “Save the whales. Kill the children?” A third sign has a picture of Jews in a concentration camp, a black man hanging and an aborted child, with the caption, “Ungentile. Unwhite. Unborn.”
GAP organizers say that these signs are ideal for the university campus demonstration, first because they target a mature audience, and secondly because they boldly illustrate the reality of the abortion slaughter. Because GAP signs compare unborn children to other groups that university students recognize as oppressed, they are more effective than the “Abortion kills children” pro-life signs which are often used in other venues.
The demonstration began at 10:00 in the morning and was intended to end at 2:00, but when a group of pro-abortion counter-demonstrators showed up at 1:00, the pro-life demonstrators stayed until 3:30 in the afternoon.
Pro-life participants reported that, while some people simply went by the display without acknowledging the demonstration, or stated that the demonstrators shouldn’t be allowed to be there, the majority either accepted the literature with a “thanks,” or refused it politely with a “no, thanks.” Many stayed to debate or discuss abortion.
One person in particular became pro-life after speaking with a representative of “Show The Truth.” Nicole Campbell, who was the pro-life demonstrator who spoke to the man, related her conversation with him to LifeSiteNews.com.
“A student approached me at one of the Show the Truth displays and he appeared to be confused and frustrated at the comparison of the Jewish Holocaust and abortion,” she said. ” I approached the student and we talked in great length about how these issues were related. His main argument was, ‘I think, therefore I am’, insinuating that a baby is not a person until they are self-aware.
It was pointed out to the student that if we value human life based on cognitive abilities, then what should we do with all the people who have cognitive disabilities? Is this not discriminating people who may not be as intelligent as the average person? Do they deserve to die because of this?”
Campbell told LifeSiteNews.com that the student, “Then admitted that he had never thought about the issue from that perspective and never challenged the status quo. He said he realized that his argument was not logical and that he was now against abortion. He then asked for more information on the issue and was very keen on knowing more.”
Throughout the demonstration more than the expected amount of literature was used, emptying the box of pamphlets, cards, bookmarks and newspaper supplements.
When the pro-abortion protestors arrived, the crowds of students going to and from class had already slowed down, but quite a number of people witnessed both protests. On the whole, the pro-life demonstrators – about twenty – were quiet and far less conspicuous in behaviour. About the same number supporting abortion rights wore pink shirts and engaged in their usual aggressive chants, including “Women’s rights are under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back!” They also yelled, “Henry Morgentaler is my F*ing hero!”
The proximity of the counter-protest to the pro-life demonstration resulted in a few ironic moments after some people didn’t realize that two sides were being presented. When confronted with people yelling “We’re pro-choice!” beside the GAP signs, several passersby commented that the pictures didn’t quite seem to support the cause.