Taking the pro-life message to the street

On July 4, the Toronto Right to Life Association held street information sessions on abortion. More than 6,000 flyers were distributed, which outlined the facts about abortion and the damage it causes. This information card was accompanied by a bookmark showing a living six-week unborn child held by an adult's hands.

Youth distributed this information to the public July 4-15 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and in evening sessions that were held from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. July 9-11. Flyers were handed out at the intersections of Bay and Bloor, Yonge and Eglinton, Union Station, the University of Toronto Campus, Bay and King Street, and the Harbor Front.

The idea to take information directly to people on the street was organizer Natalie Hudson's. Hudson, who is the executive director of the Toronto Right to Life Association, hoped to hand out information in hope of getting more public awareness in terms of the sinful act of abortion. The focus was on quantity and mass distribution of the most basic but effective facts the public needed to know about abortion on eye-catching information cards created by the Ontario Alliance for Life.

When the public received the cards on the streets, there was a good reaction and many were baffled by the statistics. Hudson told The Interim that often there would be a crowd of people standing around, focused on the disturbing facts they were reading. Others would start to walk, then look down and read the cards again, unable to ignore the facts presented. Some were in disbelief, asking the Right to Life representatives if the facts were indeed true. All in all, Hudson is "very pleased with the response, and felt that a vast majority of people read the cards. This was a very good opportunity to educate the public on an issue that seldom makes mainstream media."

The Toronto Right to Life Association is working on other projects in the fight against abortion, with the development of a phone service for children in need of counselling as an alternative to the Planned Parenthood-run Kids Help Phone.