OTTAWA—Thousands of people gathered on Parliament Hill for the 28th annual March for Life rally on May 8, calling for an end to the practices of abortion, euthanasia, and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“We didn’t come here to jostle for power. We came to raise our voices for those who have none,” Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) President Jeff Gunnarson said during a speech prior to the march.
“While some are throwing elbows to climb the political ladder, we are standing for the child in the womb who has no legal protection in Canada.”
Demonstrators, motivated by this year’s theme of “protection at conception,” gathered on Parliament Hill on May 8 for speeches and prayers, before beginning their annual March for Life through downtown Ottawa. The crowd held signs with slogans such as “Let babies live,” “Abortion is not essential,” and “Love life, choose life.”
Pro-life supporters take part in the March for Life event in downtown Ottawa on May 8, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
A few dozen counter-protesters also descended on Parliament Hill and faced off against the group, holding signs that said, “Abortion is healthcare,” “Hands off my body,” and “You will never end abortion, only safe ones.”
At a press conference held a day earlier, CLC’s communications director Pete Baklinski said over 4.5 million abortions have been completed since the practice was legalized in Canada in 1969, which is more than the population of Alberta.
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“If we held a minute of silence for every child aborted in this country, we would be silent for 10 years,” Baklinski said.
CLC’s director of education and advocacy Josie Luetke said that newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney has signalled his government would be carrying on the legacy of his predecessor, as his government has promised to make the Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund program permanent to solidify abortion funding in Canada.
Luetke also criticized the Liberal government for promising families $20,000 for IVF cycles. She cited statistics by the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society that 85,046 “utilizable embryos” were created in 2023, which are then discarded, used for research purposes, or left perpetually frozen.
“This is inhumane. This is not how we should treat any human being, even the youngest and smallest among us,” she said.
Luetke added that the Liberal government had made some “worthwhile promises” during the election, such as expanding research for postpartum maternal health, menopause, endometriosis, maternal mortality, and stillbirth.
MAID
CLC’s Co-Youth Coordinator Gideon Spevak told reporters on May 7 that Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws are similar to the death penalty being re-instated for “innocent citizens.” He said while MAID is available for Canadians who consent to it, the consent is “highly questionable” when many are experiencing inadequate health care and “activist” health care providers.
“If you are very sick, a burden to your family, and costing the system ‘too much’ time and money, you can be propositioned with death. Your life, now, is deemed expendable,” he said.
Spevak also criticized the federal government for proposing to expand MAID to include Canadians suffering from mental illness, saying this could eventually lead to euthanasia being given for “any reason, or for no reason at all.”
Canada’s MAID regime was set to be expanded to include people whose mental illness was their sole medical condition, but a month before that deadline, Ottawa introduced Bill C-39 to extend the date to March 17, 2024. Then, in January 2024, Ottawa announced it would again extend the deadline to give more preparation time for medical providers and provinces, but has not said what the new timeline would be.
“Is that really where we want to go? Is that really how Canadians value and protect the dignity and worth of every human life?” he asked.
On May 8, president of the Delta Hospice Society in B.C. Angelina Ireland spoke out against MAID. The society lost its $1.5 million annual funding due to the board’s refusal to provide MAID in its hospice centre.
“We’re so compassionate that we’re allowed to have no-kill animal shelters, but we’re not allowed to have no-kill human shelters,” Ireland said. “We demand health care sanctuary. We demand to be safe in our health care facilities that we actually pay for.”
Conservative MPs
Prior to the march, CLC vice president Matthew Wojciechowski said the April 28 election had “not been the outcome you wanted,” but Canadians had also elected more than 40 pro-life MPs to Parliament.
The Conservative Party has many pro-life members, but the party has made it clear that it will not introduce any restrictions on abortion in Canada.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis said on the X social media platform it had been a “joy to visit with some of those” attending the march, and included a photo of him speaking with members of the Catholic organization Sisters of Life.
“The Sisters do amazing work providing emotional, spiritual, and practical support to pregnant women in need,” Genius said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not comment on the march, but congratulated Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost on becoming the next Pope. “As the first Pope from North America, I am hopeful that his tenure will be particularly meaningful for Canadian Catholics,” he said.
Back in 2015, Prevost participated in the March for Life in Chiclayo, Peru. He said on X at the time, “Let’s defend human life at all times!”
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