Organizers of the March for Life are gearing up for the 27th annual pro-life march in Ottawa on May 8, with several related events held May 6–9.
The March for Life event began in 1997 and is being organized by non-profit organization Campaign Life Coalition (CLC).
Previous events have drawn in thousands of attendees, calling for a change to the country’s abortion policies.
Abortion is legal at any stage of pregnancy in Canada. Approximately one in every three Canadian women will have an abortion, according to government numbers.
CLC says about 100,000 abortions a year are performed in Canada—or 300 every day.
This year’s campaign theme is “Protection at Conception.”
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CLC said it is calling for “legal protection for every human life, from its very beginning.”
“This theme, Protection At Conception, is more than a slogan,” the organization said. “It is a call to conscience. It is a demand that Canada recognize the inalienable rights bestowed on every human being by God, starting with the most fundamental right—the right to life.”
It also notes that “over 95 percent of biologists agree” that human life begins at conception.
Several events will be held in Ottawa from May 6–9, including the march from Parliament Hill to downtown Ottawa on May 8.
These events include film screenings, a Rose Dinner Gala, Songs for Life Coffee House, candlelight vigil, youth summit, and pro-life expo.
At the gala, guest speaker Emily Stimpson Chapman, an author, wife, and mother, will give a speech about protecting life at conception, including rejecting abortion and IVF.
IVF became part of the recent federal election, with newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign promising government funding for IVF treatments.
During the gathering in Ottawa, Catholic masses will be held at two locations on May 8, including Notre Dame Cathedral and St. Clement.
A rally ahead of the march will start on Parliament Hill at 12 p.m., with the march itself beginning at 1:30 p.m. to downtown Ottawa, testimonies given at 2:30 p.m., and a closing prayer held at 3 p.m.
The week winds down with a leaders summit on May 9.
CLC’s director of education and advocacy Josie Luetke previously told The Epoch Times that changes in the U.S. administration were welcome in Canada and could change the conversation.
One of those was President Donald Trump pardoning 23 pro-life activists that had been in jail under a federal law that made it a crime to physically block someone from entering an abortion clinic.
The pro-life movement also celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. The legal case had largely legalized abortion in the country before it was reversed.
Luetke also noted that the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization, which she described as pro-abortion in a promotion video for the march released Feb. 6.
Additionally, the United States has also renewed its membership in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which has an objective to “protect life at all stages,” according to a Jan. 24 statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“That’s always part of the conversation, how might that influence the conversation in Canada,” Luetke said in a previous phone interview with The Epoch Times.
