THUNDER BAY – The screening of an anti-abortion film has spurred protests and internal division at Thunder Bay’s Urban Abbey. One staff member has left the organization over the issue, while numerous community members say they’ll no longer engage with the group.
A screening of the controversial film ‘Unplanned,’ organized by Right to Life Thunder Bay, was hosted at the Urban Abbey’s Red River location Sunday evening. The event drew more than 100 protestors, who held signs and chanted pro-choice slogans outside. A similar number of people gathered inside to watch the film.
‘Unplanned’ is based on the memoirs of Abby Johnson, a former director at the American women’s health non-profit Planned Parenthood. It tells the story of her journey to become a prominent anti-abortion advocate, using graphic imagery that earned the film an R rating, and painting Planned Parenthood as callous and profit-driven. Health experts have taken issue with the film’s exaggerated portrayals of the procedure.
An online furor over the screening at Urban Abbey, which has generated hundreds of posts and comments on Facebook in recent weeks, took the organization’s head of staff Scotland Morrison by surprise. Morrison said he was led to believe the screening was a “highly personal” private event, and was not aware it was organized by a formal pro-life group until recently.
“I feel like things were misrepresented to me, and I feel a little betrayed and a little upset – maybe a little isn’t the right word,” he said Sunday evening.
Morrison says the Abbey hosts many events organized by outside groups – sometimes up to 40 per week – which aren’t always closely vetted. Staff are working on drafting more detailed event policies following the controversy, he says.
Morrison is critical of the film and its approach, but says he decided to let the event go ahead largely because he felt obliged to defend the pro-life group from online attacks.
“It got fairly nasty, fairly quickly,” he says of the online reaction, adding he felt the group was being bullied.
It’s a decision that has cost the organization one staff member and the support of an untold number of community members.
Outside the building on Sunday evening, a number of protestors who had previously attended the Abbey for events or frequented its coffee shop, The Habit, said the organization’s willingness to host the film would keep them away in future.
Amy Sellors was one of those protestors. She sees the film as an attack on women’s rights, and believes providing a venue for it crossed a line.
“The Abbey’s allowed to do whatever they choose to do, that’s their right as an organization – and I’m allowed to spend my money and my time where I want to,” she says. “The free speech argument has come out a lot. My feeling is when your free speech tramples my human rights and freedoms, that walks a line closer to hate speech than free speech, and I’m not comfortable with that.”
Inside, Rob Freeman, a Right to Life member, said it was important to hear the protestors’ message.
“I think both sides need to listen well when the other side is saying, ‘hey, you’re starting to be hateful,’” he says. “Having friends on the other side is the best way to have a healthy community, and I think the Abbey here does a great job at that. They love bringing people together who agree that our community needs help for the poor, the marginalized, and the disadvantaged, people who are suffering. They come around that central ethos, even though they might disagree on a lot of things.”
But for Freeman, the concerns over the film just reinforced the need for the screening and continued discussion on the issue.
“I certainly respect their right to express their views, as much as I believe Canadians have given us the right to express our views,” he says. “What I think is mostly up for debate right now, what we’re trying to sort out, is what are the limits of that freedom?
Sarah DiBiagio, who helped organize the protest, says the Abbey’s role as a social service provider made the issue about more than free speech.
“De-platforming is not the same thing as suppression of speech,” she explains. “We’re not saying pro-life people can’t exist, we’re saying there’s no space for them in a community service centre where they can be terrifying women.”
For DiBiagio, the episode raises questions about the Urban Abbey’s commitment to the vulnerable community members is serves, such as the women in its Thrive program, which supports pregnant women and mothers of young children recovering from addiction.
“I don’t want them to cancel the screening, I want them to have never considered screening it in the first place,” she says. “They should have researched this movie and have been accountable to the people who use this space. You have young pregnant women using this space, and you invite a place like Right to Life and their propaganda in here. That’s not fair to the vulnerable sectors you’re supposed to be protecting.”
Urban Abbey staff at times came outside to speak with protesters, offering coffee and cookies. Morrison said the Abbey respected their right to protest, and wanted to make them feel welcome.
At least one of those joining protestors outside was a long-time Abbey volunteer. He’s been inspired by the organization’s ability to bring people of diverse backgrounds together and support the disenfranchised in Thunder Bay. He believes Abbey leadership made the wrong call in going ahead with the screening of the film, which he called “propaganda.”
He says he considered disassociating himself from the organization, but ultimately believes the group’s good work – and the good faith of its leadership – outweighs one poor decision.
“It’s been difficult,” he says. “But because I know so many people in the community, and because I know their intentions and what they’re setting out to do with this organization, I still believe in them as a whole. I think they will grow from this.”
“This has cost the Abbey a lot, and I’m really saddened by that,” Morrison acknowledged. “I naively entered into an agreement hoping for the best and assuming some things, so that’s on me. I feel in a way this entire thing is on me, and if I had just dug a little deeper, I would have been able to discern, ‘oh, wait a minute, this isn’t what it’s being presented as.’”
Morrison says the Urban Abbey avoids taking stances on politicized issues like abortion. Most members share pro-life views, he says, but don’t believe the confrontational approach of ‘Unplanned’ is the right way to act on them.
“The reason why the Abbey started the Thrive program is we are a little tired of the message, ‘we don’t want you to do this,’” he says. “If we say we actually care about women and children, then let’s start a program that supports women and children, instead of investing in things that simply cause events like this to occur, which I don’t find particularly fruitful.”
Morrison says the divisive event will cause the Abbey to be more careful in the future.
“We’ve rarely said no to anything, because we’ve tried to be open to all sides,” he says. “Moving forward, there might be a couple more nos.”
