Last Saturday as residents drove down Hwy. 2A in Lacombe, they may have noticed a display of thousands of pink and blue flags along a green space.
The display was set up by a local pro-life group to bring awareness to their campaign to change federal legislation on abortion.
The mobile display was presented by a group of volunteers with Red Deer and District Pro-life and We Need A Law, a national organization advocating for pre-born human rights.
“It’s really about awareness and getting the message out that we need a law,” said co-organizer Val Beukema. “This is simply an opportunity to dialogue with the members of our community.”
The advocacy group had about 30 volunteers planting the 10,000 small pink and blue flags into the ground for an hour.
The group said each flag they planted represented 10 pre-born children who are aborted in Canada each year. They acknowledge although the statistics are difficult to confirm, due to two of Canada’s provinces limiting access to abortion information.
The location and placement of the display was strategic, allowing those driving down the highway to see the display and those venturing down the walking path to stop and see what it was about.
“We are doing this to show our community the momentous impact that abortion has on our community and nation,” said co-organizer Andree Verhoog. “Although our political leaders claim that abortion should be safe, legal and rare, these flags show that it is happening 100,000 times every year in Canada.”
Verhoog added in the group’s view, Canada is the only democracy in the world that does not have an abortion law. China and North
Korea also lacks a law.
“The Supreme Court of Canada, in the 1988 Morgentaler decision made it very clear that it is Parliament’s responsibility to enact an abortion law,” she said. “It has been over 25 years and we still do not have a law.
“When Canadians are informed that there are no laws a majority consistently say pre-born children should be protected by the law.”
The group has called on Wetaskawin MP Blaine Calkins to protect human rights of human beings and are taking their campaign nationally hoping to reach the ears of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
By 4 p.m. the display was taken down by the same group of volunteers. The flags no longer remain, but the volunteer group hopes they instigated a discussion.
The traveling display has also been presented in Ponoka and Bashaw, Lethbridge, and further out in Chilliwack and Salmon Arm in B.C., along with the Canadian capital Ottawa.
news@lacombeexpress.com