Two British Columbia pro-life
supporters used a novel approach to protest against abortion Dec. 28 outside
the Every Woman's Health Clinic in Vancouver.
Lane Walker and Jennifer
Ziemann, members of the Seamless Garment Network Canada, were arrested
for violating the provincial "bubble-zone" law which restricts pro-life
demonstrations.
But their arrest did not
come before the pair had made an effective, 16-hour witness to life. They
set up a mock daycare centre in front of the clinic to encourage care and
nurturing of children, rather than abortion. They used toys and children's
clothing as part of their protest.
In a statement released prior
to the demonstration, Walker and Ziemann said governments should allocate
funding to daycare centres rather than abortion facilities. They said abortion
is akin to a "political slaughter" of children and that government social
policy amounts to abandonment of women and children.
Their protest coincided with
the Dec. 28 Feast of the Holy Innocents, a day many Catholic dioceses use
to pay tribute to pro-life workers.
According to a report in
the Vancouver Sun, Walker and Ziemann have been arrested three times in
the past two years for similar demonstrations.
Both apparently refused to
sign an order to stay away from the Vancouver abortion mill.
The Seamless Garment Network
was established in the U.S. to protest against abortion and work for a
renewed respect for human life. The name was chosen to express the notion
of human life as a "seamless garment" or continuum, requiring protection
from conception to natural death.
"We are committed to the
protection of life, which is threatened in today's world by war and the
arms race, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment and euthanasia,"
reads a statement by the Canadian branch of the network.
"We believe these issues
are linked under a ‘consistent life ethic.' We challenge those working
on all or some of these issues to maintain a co-operative spirit of peace,
reconciliation and respect in protecting the unprotected."
The Seamless Garment Network
claims to represent 180 organizations supporting life, peace and justice.
Their supporters take the
widest possible understanding of "pro-life," including opposition to the
death penalty.
