HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, October 3, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pro-abortion protesters ripped signs out of the hands of pro-lifers, stole pro-life signs, and even invoked Satan as they tried to shut down the Life Chain in Halifax last Sunday.
“I was afraid for our safety this past Sunday because there were so many mixed personalities,” pro-lifer Tony Chesal told LifeSiteNews.
“There was one guy going up and down and saying, 'Satan rocks!'” said Chesal. “When someone is making statements like that, you can't be sure which way he may turn.”
Ellen Chesal, organizer of the Halifax portion of the Life Chain, said in an interview with LifeSiteNews on Tuesday that two elderly women had pro-life signs ripped out of their hands and thrown on the ground by abortion supporters.
Even though the roughly 75 pro-lifers taking part in the Life Chain, most of whom stood quietly praying and holding their signs, outnumbered the counter-protesters roughly two-to-one, the pro-abortion side was much louder.
“They were pretty loud and obnoxious,” said Tony Chesal. “There were two instances where a guy was very aggressive.”
“There was a little old lady and he grabbed the sign out of her hands and threw it on the ground,” he said.
During the Halifax Life Chain, one of the pro-lifers, another elderly woman, made her way closer to the counter-protesters. She was quickly surrounded by a mob of screaming abortion activists.
According to Chesal, three Halifax Regional Police officers broke up the crowd to ensure the elderly woman's safety.
Halifax Regional Police officials had not confirmed or denied that incident by deadline.
But Jim Christian, another pro-lifer who traveled to Halifax to take part in the Life Chain, said it did happen.
The Halifax Life Chain was one of 200 such events across Canada, most of them ignored by the mainstream media, in which pro-lifers stood and prayed for an end to abortion in Canada.
According to Christian, those who want to keep abortion widely available in Canada sometimes resort to hiring paid activists to stage counter-protests. He maintains that one such group of paid activists, which he dubs a “rent-a-mob” crowd, attacked another frail, older pro-life lady who was trying to reason with someone screaming in her face during the Halifax Life Chain event Sunday.
“They surrounded her and were screeching, just inches from her, right in her face at the top of their lungs: 'pro-choice!' I'm sure she was covered with their spittle afterwards,” he wrote in an email.
Neither Christian nor other pro-lifers were able to offer evidence that the pro-aborts at the counter-protest in Halifax this year were paid activists. But Ellen Chesal, executive director of Campaign Life Coalition NS, said she has heard pro-aborts in previous counter-protests talk about being paid for their participation.
“Years ago, it was a nasty, rainy day and we were lined up and they were yelling at us and then they walked off and said, 'F*** this, they don't pay us enough for this,'” said Chesal.
According to Christian, some of the pro-abort counter-protesters went so far as to steal pro-life signs.
“I spotted them after they had 'acquired' them,” said Christian. “I expect they found the extras that Campaign Life Coalition NS had ready for people and just nabbed them.
“Each one was large and laminated, front and back. Not cheap!” said Christian. “They just nonchalantly walked away with them, until I noticed what they had in their arms. Sneaky b******s!”
Michelle Malette, who organized the pro-abortion counter-protest, has reportedly said it wasn't OK with her that people be allowed to stand on the road, in this case Robie Street near the Halifax Commons, for the Life Chain.
In a Toronto Star article, Malette is quoted as saying she was “pretty angry” that there was going to be a Life Chain in Halifax, calling the pro-life event “a really scary thing because people are still going to have sex.”
“It is frightening and it’s really enraging,” Malette reportedly said.
A photograph of the pro-abortion counter-protesters shows some of them carrying vulgarity-laced signs. On one, the message was “Mind your own uterus” and there was a drawing of a uterus with the fallopian tubes giving the middle finger. Another sign read “Public cervix announcement: F*** You.”
“The pro-life movement needs help and people to stand up,” said Tony Chesal. “If you believe in it, get off the fence.”
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