The “please let me live” anti-abortion flag may not fly in front of City Hall this year, but it still made an appearance on Memorial Square Monday for the first day of Celebrate Life Week.
As children held the dampened flag, the president of the Prince Albert Right to Life Association addressed a group of demonstrators. Dorothy Kawula said the raindrops pattering down on their umbrellas were a sign of “regrowth.” She said she saw another symbol on the square.
“As you know, we’re going to have an empty flagpole,” she said. “Maybe thats a symbol as well, of our empty hearts and our closedness in society.”
The speakers recited prayers and called for more “discussion” about abortion and other hot-button moral issues.
Kawula said she thinks Mayor Greg Dionne, in putting the flag on hold for this year, is being overly sensitive to her opponents on the pro-choice side. She argues that many flags are divisive. Like the mayor, she views the flag as a free speech issue.
“This is an uncomfortable subject for many people,” she said. “But if you are going to raise one then raise them all.”
For more on this story, see the May 9 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
