P.E.I. Right to Life Association march draws hundreds

Hundreds of people rallied in Charlottetown Sunday to show their opposition to abortion.

The P.E.I. Right to Life Association organized the march, which was its first major event since the P.E.I. government announced on Mar. 31 that it would provide abortion services on the island for the first time in almost 35 years.

"We're feeling very excited. We're feeling very enthusiastic that so many people came out to support life," said Nicole Dupuis, the executive director of the P.E.I. Right to Life Association. Dupuis says 600 people attended.

Opposition to assisted dying

Dupuis said the rally was also meant to show opposition to assisted dying.

"It's really just an opportunity to publicly show our pro-life stance in support of life, from fertilization until natural death," she said."This rally is on the dignity of all human life, both surrounding abortion and surrounding Bill C-14 as well."

Bill C-14 is legislationon assisted dying, which the government has pushed to get in place before a Supreme Court deadline of June 6.

Ongoing campaign

Nicole Dupuis said her organization intends to continue campaigning on both abortion and assisted death.

"Our next step is as always to continue education and informing the public, who are both pro-choice and pro-life about abortion and other life issues as well," she said.

In January, abortion rights activists said they would take the province to court to get full access to abortion services on the island.

In March Premier Wade MacLauchlan said the province would likely not have been able to successfully defend itself against that suit.