The rally is the make up date from the earlier protest scheduled for last October that was cancelled due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
"Ontarians are tired of being forced to pay for a procedure that kills a pre-born child, harms a woman and is a financial drain on our health care system, so we are finally taking the proper steps to fight back," said Alissa Golob, director of Campaign Life Coalition Youth, which is organizing the rally. "This is an issue that affects us all — each and every one of us — because it is forcing us to aid and abet in the killing of children, which the majority of Ontarians are uncomfortable with."
Under the Canada Health Act provinces are required to fund "medically necessary" services but does not define what services fall within this category.
"It does not define what those are and there is no list of specific services," said Golob. "Abortion is clearly not a medical necessity. Abortion ends the life of a developing child and physically and mentally harms women."
A report released in 2011 by the Ottawa-based research firm Abacus Data found that while 81 per cent of Ontarians feel that abortion should be available to those who choose that avenue, 61 per cent of Ontarians oppose government funding for the procedure. The online poll found that more than 90 per cent of the 1,015 respondents were unaware that the government provides at least $30 million annually to fund abortions.
According to Golob, who noted government funding has reached up to $50 million in the past, this money would be better used to either hire more than 200 family doctors, 400 nurses or provide therapy to an additional 500 autistic children. Or it could be used to purchase 20 MRI machines.
Despite these findings, effectively bringing people together to express dissatisfaction with the government funding of abortions is challenging, said Golob.
"The biggest challenge we are facing is convincing the public to take time off work and young people to take off school in the middle of the day on a Tuesday to come out," said Golob. This is of pivotal importance since the only way this rally will be effective and successful is if we have physical bodies present to influence MPPs to take notice of this issue."
Last year, the first time the event was held, more than 2,000 people attended the rally at the Ontario Legislature.
Until 1988 abortions in Canada were restricted to those deemed necessary for the physical and mental well-being of the mother by a committee of doctors. Since then, when the Supreme Court removed this requirement, more than 2.2 million abortions have been performed in Canada — slightly less than a third of the number of babies born during the same period.
Prince Edward Island is the only province to not offer abortions in either private clinics or hospitals and thus, along with New Brunswick, provide no funding for the procedure. All other provinces and two of the three territories provide full or partial funding for abortions.
For Golob the dream is to have the entire country on the moral path of PEI and she sees the Defund Abortion Rally as a step in the right direction.
"These rallies are effective in educating the public, raising awareness with politicians and recruiting more people to become actively involved in political activism and garnering media attention," said Golob. "All these results bring us one step closer to achieving success."