“As someone who has had an abortion, it feels like a judgement on all women who have had to make that choice,” said Abbey Oviatt, a student at Mount Royal University.
Pro-life supporters fill Mount Royal University’s public spaces with signs depicting graphic images of aborted fetuses, leaving some students feeling distressed and unwelcome.
While warning signs are put up ahead of these protests to alert students, some students have no choice but to walk past them.
It’s not surprising that protestors choose universities to make their point because, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, individuals aged 18-24 accounted for 24 percent of all reported abortions in 2022.
This makes it the second most common age group to seek the procedure.
The history of abortion in Canada
Abortion became legal in Canada in 1969 through the Criminal Law Amendment Act. This allowed the procedure to be done in hospitals, but only under strict conditions.
Abortion wasn’t recognized as healthcare until 1988, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the restrictions as unconstitutional.
Controversial protests at university
“We’re showing the faces and broken bodies of abortion victims to the community at MRU to advocate against the violence of abortion,” said Blaise Alleyne, strategic initiatives director at the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR), the group that organizes the protests at MRU. “Through dialogue about science and human rights, our hope is that members of the MRU community will choose peace, and say no to violence by saying no to abortion.”
Some students feel the university should do more to limit these protests on campus and protect students from potential emotional distress and psychological harm.
“I entertained the conversation one time, and one woman got extremely upset with me, saying God is going to send me to hell for the choice I made,” said Oviatt.
Warning about protests
For its part, MRU’s administration stresses that “Campus spaces are legally considered public, and demonstrators are exercising their constitutionally-protected right to freedom of expression.”
Students are alerted to protests via the MRU Now app and are encouraged to access support from Wellness Services if affected.
But that’s not enough for some students.
“These protests are not for a school environment. No one comes to school looking for information on the pro-life movement,” said Oviatt. “Everyone deserves to feel safe at school, and MRU is negligent with what they are allowing.”