For almost two decades, travellers along Pandosy Street have seen anti-abortion protesters with their pro-life signs outside Kelowna General Hospital every Tuesday.
Lately, though, they’ve been joined by pro-choice people, representing the other side.
“Whether the mother feels it right away or it hits her later, when she aborts the child she was carrying, it dies. We care about the mothers as well and no one forgets a life inside them dying,” said pro-life protester Krista Krohn.
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Another pro-life protester agreed.
“I have a picture of my big family with all my children and I am happy because they wouldn’t be there if my wife decided to get an abortion,” protester Walter Keating said.
But on Tuesday, some pro-choice protesters could be seen riding their bikes by the protest sharing their opinions about abortion and why they believe a woman has the right to decide.
Kelowna and District Pro-Choice Action Society chairwoman Donna Campbell said her group hasn’t protested against the pro-life activists before because it didn’t seem to do any good.
“We haven’t participated because they do more harm to themselves than good,” Campbell said.
She said the pro-choice society has done a lot of work in the community by offering sexual health information and providing access to abortion clinics.
“We’ve accomplished it and we don’t want to do anything to backtrack our work,” Campbell said.
Campbell thinks people protesting for pro-choice are not involved with her society because hers tries not to engage with pro-life organizations.
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Interior Health says abortions are a core health service funded by the province, and as such, it has a medical responsibility to provide the service to any patients who make the choice to terminate a pregnancy.
“While we make this service available, we do not disclose where this service is provided including naming hospitals. This is in keeping with requirements under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and protects individuals’ right to privacy and the safety and security of staff and patients,” spokesperson Karl Hardt said.
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