OTTAWA (CCN)—Organizers of a talk by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino Aug. 16 are bracing for a pro-abortion protest.
“The event has caught the attention of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada,” said Ruth Shaw, executive director of the National Campus Life Network. “They have currently set up a protest event outside. Their biggest claim is that Dr. Levatino lies about the abortion industry.”
The Metropolitan Bible Church, a large evangelical church in Ottawa with an ample auditorium and parking lot, is providing a venue for the talk.
“The MET and NCLN are all aware Dr. Anthony is a controversial speaker and we’re prepared to deal with the reality of hosting a controversial event,” Shaw said. “As of now, the MET is providing their own security and we’ll see how the protest develops in terms of its planning and we’ll make further decisions down the road.”
Pro-abortion activists have created a Facebook event entitled “No to Levatino” urging supporters to protest Aug. 16.
Shaw said she first came across Levatino through Live Action, an American pro-life group that hosted videos he had made explaining what is involved in the abortion procedure.
“Educational pro-life groups are always looking for material,” said Shaw. “His videos are some of the best educational tools we’ve seen.”
“We’ve invited him to come and speak about why he left the abortion industry and share his personal testimony of what motivated him to leave,” she said. “In addition to that he’ll be talking about abortion overall, and why we need to be doing something about it.”
In news reports, Levatino, an ob-gyn, stopped doing abortions in the 1980s after his nearly six-year-old adopted daughter was hit by a car and killed in front of their house. Her death made him realize he was causing the death of someone’s child in continuing to perform abortions.
Levatino’s talk comes on the heels of the brief screening in Canada of the movie Unplanned, which portrayed the story of former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson. Johnson left the industry after she witnessed an ultrasound-guided abortion where the unborn child depicted on the screen desperately tried to dodge the abortionist’s suction wand.
“Maybe not everyone knows that Dr. Anthony plays the abortionist in the movie Unplanned,” Shaw said.
Pro-abortion groups have criticized both Johnson and Levatino for lying about the industry or using overly subjective language to describe procedures.
In 2015, Levatino testified at the Kansas Legislature and described a dilation and curettage abortion as follows:
“The toughest part of a D&E abortion is extracting the baby’s head. The head of a baby that age is about the size of a large plum and is now free floating inside the uterine cavity … You will know you have it right when you crush down on the clamp and see white gelatinous material coming through the cervix. That was the baby’s brains. You can then extract the skull pieces. Many times a little face will come out and stare back at you.”
“What motivation do (Johnson and Levatino) have to lie?” asked Shaw, who pointed out neither were fired from their respective jobs or consequently motivated to “run a smear campaign.”
“They’re doing it from a deep concern about what people are participating in and are not fully aware of what they are participating in,” Shaw said.
NCLN is aiming for 300 people to attend the event described in a news release as “suitable for anyone 13 years and up.” Admission is free, but Shaw said those attending must RSVP on NCLN’s website at ncln.ca/levatino.