Excited moment pro-choice protester is dragged away by police after interrupting an anti-abortion demonstration: ‘This is not America’
- Woman taken away shouted ‘we won’t let this happen’
- Police warned of a recurrence of violence this week
A woman protesting an anti-abortion march in Sydney has been arrested by police who warned of a recurrence of violence outside a Mark Latham event.
Footage of the tense moment shows two police officers leading her away as she yells, “This isn’t America, we’re not letting this happen.”
The woman can be heard asking why she was singled out when she had done nothing wrong as officers struggled with her outside St Mary’s Cathedral.
“This shouldn’t be happening in 2023…I came here today to have my say about what’s happening to my body,” she said.
“I was approached by several men around me, who accused me of doing something wrong by being here today.”
A woman (pictured) protesting an anti-abortion march in Sydney has been removed by police who warned of a recurrence of violence beyond a Mark Latham speech
The woman said she was protesting “to speak for any woman who has no control over her body.” This is what happens to women in Australia.’
An Unborn Child Day organiser, Paul Hanrahan, called for calm on Thursday after police raised concerns in light of clashes between rainbow rights activists and counter-demonstrators outside the church, One Nation NSW leader Mr Latham is said to have speak at Belfield.
“They have assured us the safety of our group and our right to hold our event is their number one concern, and they will do everything they can to ensure that,” Hanrahan said via Facebook.
“We are not there to attack protesters, but to bear our cross.”
Participants are pictured at a rally from the Catholic Church of St Mary’s Cathedral to the New South Wales Parliament House on March 26, 2023 in Sydney, Australia
The University of Sydney Women’s Collective said on Saturday night it had canceled plans to counter Sunday’s March for the Day of the Unborn Child.
“This decision was not taken lightly…because we believe it is the right thing to do for the safety of our collective and the ability for us to grow the movement against these far-right groups so that we can get out of it in the future.” can come. stronger,” it says on Facebook.
On Tuesday night, 15 members of Community Action For Rainbow Rights were violently attacked by members of the Christian Lives Matter movement in Belfield.
“This was a horrific attack that was politically not religiously motivated and we express our deepest solidarity with the members … who were there.”
The annual Day of the Unborn Child service and gathering (pictured) is led by the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, in partnership with the Life & Family Institute of Sydney
The collective said it was “extremely hesitant” to call off the action because it didn’t want to encourage “the hateful recklessness of the anti-abortion, queerphobic right.”
There will be an open meeting of a rainbow coalition in Sydney on Thursday at a location yet to be determined.
According to its website, the Christian group helps the Life and Family Institute organize the march from St Mary’s Cathedral on March 26 each year as “a prayerful and peaceful testimony to the sanctity of human life.”
The Catholic Weekly said the procession, accompanied by a mass, has been held annually for nearly 20 years — except for 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdowns and 2021 due to wild weather.