July 17, 2013  Lethbridge, AB – This summer people living in Southern Alberta will be exposed to a powerful message displayed by area residents on their front lawns. An educational campaign with the purpose of bringing awareness to Canada’s lack of protection for pre-born humans, has seen over 100 crosses distributed throughout Lethbridge, Coaldale and Taber. The freshly painted crosses have the words “weneedaLAW.ca” and “theTRUTHis.ca” printed on them and already they are getting noticed by passersby.

Paul Vanderheide of Coaldale says shortly after he stuck one in his front lawn his neighbour wandered over to inquire. “He couldn’t believe Canada had no law restricting abortion and because of the sign on my lawn he is better informed,” said Vanderheide.

“The groundswell from across the country is remarkable,” said weneedaLAW.ca director, Mike Schouten. “Canadians are increasingly becoming aware of the reality that Canada is the only democracy in the world without abortion laws, and conversations such as the one Mr. Vanderheide had with his neighbour are common.”

Mel Harthoorn, one of the local volunteers with the Southern Alberta ARPA, said a friend of hers came up with the idea. “We got about fifteen volunteers out to give a fresh coat of paint to the existing crosses we had and to spray paint the words on. There were so many people who were eager to display a cross on their lawn that we quickly ran out of crosses. We hope to have them up all summer.”

 

Southern Alberta ARPA had set up a cross display on the edge of Coaldale in 2008. This was the first of its kind and it made such an impact that similar displays are still being built across Canada, reaching dozens of cities. Southern Alberta ARPA was getting many roadblocks from government authorities to set the display up again, so they thought outside the box for how to get the same message out.

“It is awesome to see grassroots efforts such as this,” said Schouten. “The human rights of pre-born children are being violated in Canada in ways unlike any other democratic nation and through our campaign more and more Canadians are calling on the federal government to enact just laws that recognize pre-born human rights.”

“The lawn crosses are sure to bring about many community conversations throughout the summer. Canadians have a hunger for justice and will ensure that this issue becomes a national conversation,” concluded Schouten.