More than 2,200 pro-lifers gathered on Saturday for the Swiss March for Life, defying hostility from local officials as well as an estimated 200 masked cyclists who attempted to disrupt and terrorize the event.
EWTN News reports that an estimated 2,200 pro-lifers, accompanied by a police presence to ensure security, rallied under the theme of “Together for Life,” advocating legal protection for the voiceless preborn as well as for fathers to step up to their responsibilities both to their children and the babies’ mothers.
Far-left saboteurs attempted to undermine the demonstration with firecrackers, knocking over trash bins, and otherwise blocking the route at multiple points. “The police repeatedly asked them to leave before resorting to the water cannons,” SWI adds. “However, the counter-demonstrators reappeared at several points along the route.”
For years, Zurich officials have kept the event out of the city center, relegating it to the outer commercial and residential district of Oerlikon. Officials have claimed this is to minimize such disruptions, but pro-lifers argue they are held to a double-standard that effectively gives violent agitators power to decide who is welcome in the public square.