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Pro-life protesters charged – Metro US

Pro-life protesters charged

The University of Calgary used to say the campus pro-life group had a basic human right to protest, but the group’s president believes the school is doing an about-face.

Three of the group’s members were charged yesterday for trespassing after refusing to take down posters in November comparing abortion to the Holocaust.

Leah Hallman, pro-life group president, said the university had installed a sign stating their group had a right to put up the posters under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — only to later remove the sign.

Hallman described a group last year handing out pamphlets with graphic pictures of genocide, ending with a different result.

“When I see that they didn’t do anything against those people that they’re doing against us, I can only assume that they university is charging us based on discrimination against our pro-life views,” she said.

There are more than 20 cause-oriented campus groups and each expresses its views on a regular basis, according to the pro-life group’s lawyer, John Carpay, and none have faced these charges.

While the university refused to confirm this information for Metro, a U of C campus security member said any peaceful protest is allowed, and that he knew of no protest bylaws, also confirmed by the U of C Students Union.

The university released a brief statement yesterday that said it tried to find a compromise with the group but has been unsuccessful.