VIDEO: Enthusiastic Crowd Demonstrates Against Planned Right to Life Memorial

For a last minute protest on a Friday before a long weekend, the rally against the so-called Garden of Grace at the Basilica of Our Lady brought out a number of very enthusiastic people of all genders concerned about the placement of a blatantly political monument on the grounds of Guelph's biggest tourist attraction.

Abortion Bus Ad Debate Misses the Real Issue

You know an issue's contentious if a link on the Guelph sub-Reddit gets nearly 40 replies. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Guelph Reddit, but it ain't exactly the most happening place on the interwebs. In this case, the topic in question is part of a bigger conversation that has even made it to the local TV news, a question as to whether or not Guelph Right for Life should be allowed to advertise on city buses.

Given the fact that I've been in Guelph for almost 18 years, and cannot remember a time when the picture of a fetus and the phrase "This is a child. Not a choice." didn't occasionally pop up on the back of a bus, I have to wonder what the urgent urgency of getting rid of them now is. Also, I have to wonder why Guelphites advocating for a woman's right to choose keep missing the point? They're so wrapped up in the messaging that they seem to have forgotten that unless its an emergency or classified as live-saving surgery, your average woman can't get a legal abortion inside the boundaries of the Royal City.

Anti Abortion Group Makes Stop in Guelph

Those in rush hour traffic heading home through the downtown tonight probably didn't miss the some 30 some-odd anti-abortion protesters with the group Show the Truth Canada picketing there. Stationed at the corner of Woolwich at Eramosa, the group stood by the roadside holding large, graphic photographs and handing out full-colour pamphlets.

According to the group's website, Show the Truth is "a non-denominational mission dedicated to showing the truth of abortion to the Canadian public. Show the Truth is committed to peaceful and legal means of pro-life education, through displaying large photographs of abortion and distributing literature."

I was able to talk briefly with Rosemary Connell who was managing today's demonstration downtown which was one of three, 90-minute stops in Guelph, part of swing through the greater Hamilton area by the group. According to Connell, a man in Brantford invited the group to make a stop in the area, as Stop the Truth is available to groups, individuals or political parties that request their help demonstrating against abortion.

The Show the Truth protesters seemed to cover a wide range of ages and backgrounds, and although I'm not sure if any one from Guelph was involved in the demonstration, Connell said local people are more than welcome to come out and join them on the line.

As for reaction, it seemed to run the spectrum from engaged to disinterested. Many people on the street seemed amused by the sudden appearance of these protestors. Connell says that her and her group love a good debate on the street. Some Guelphites were happy to oblige, she says, others were sympathetic to their cause. At least one person I saw expressed himself through colourful metaphors and honking his horn as his car drove by.

As for the graphic nature of their materials, Connell says her group is merely "providing a hard dose of reality" by showing the "hidden victims" of abortion. And to people who identify as pro-choice, she says of the photographs that "This is what it is" and that they should "face what you support."

Of course, graphic images of any medical procedure are difficult to look at; I believe that was the point when the Ontario Government started putting diseased lungs on cigarette packages. It's also interesting that Guelph became a stop in this protest tour given the fact that, to my knowledge, Guelph doesn't have an abortion clinic. Still, this isn't the first time the abortion debate has crept in to the public discourse in the last little while. I wonder if it's a sign of things to come.