Richard Dur ais the Executive Director, Prolife AlbertaLast year, activist city councils joined the province in unfairly censoring the free speech of pro-life Albertans. The province already enforces so-called "bubble zones" around abortion facilities, but that wasn’t enough for the radical city councils of Calgary, Strathmore, and High River. They decided the truth about abortion was just too disturbing. So, they did what those in power often do when they can’t win the argument: they shut it down. No flyers, no conversations, no opportunities to inform the public.But here’s the thing: Albertans don’t stay silent when something is wrong. We don’t sit idly by while injustices are swept under the rug. We stand up, we fight back, and we speak the truth — even when it’s difficult. And so, we did.In response, Prolife Alberta launched The Reality of Abortion is Too Disturbing for this Billboard campaign. It wasn’t just a slogan; it was a challenge — a challenge to confront what we’ve been told to ignore. When something is so disturbing that we can’t even bear to look at it, should we really be accepting it at all?For too long, we’ve been told to turn a blind eye to the truth. Abortion, we’re told, is a settled issue, neatly wrapped up in euphemisms like “choice” and “reproductive rights.” But no euphemism can cover up the ugly reality of what happens. And for too long, people of good conscience have been bullied into silence. A silence that hides the disturbing truth they don’t want you to know about abortion in Alberta:A minor can have an abortion without her parents being notified.Late-term abortions happen in Alberta, sometimes resulting in fully born babies being left to die.Dangerous chemical abortion pills are prescribed over the phone and online, putting both the woman’s and the baby’s life at risk.If you try to share life-saving information with women seeking abortions, you can be arrested because Alberta’s “bubble zones” protect abortionists, not the innocent.The Alberta government fully funds the killing of innocent human beings with your tax dollars, whether you agree with it or not.These aren’t abstract issues — they are happening here in Alberta. And yet, despite this being the first term of a majority conservative government, with ample time left before the next election, the silence from leadership is deafening.So we started small: a couple of billboards here and there, each one making a simple, bold statement: The reality of abortion is too disturbing for this billboard. It wasn’t hyperbole — it was fact. And people noticed. From Calgary to Edmonton, Lethbridge to Red Deer, Medicine Hat to Valleyview, 33 billboards now stand across Alberta. They are asking the question we’ve all avoided for too long: if abortion is too disturbing to show, why are we accepting it? (See for yourself at RealityOfAbortion.ca).It seems even Premier Danielle Smith has taken the message of "Keep quiet. Don’t upset the status quo" to heart. We recently wrote an open letter to her office, asking for a response — asking her, and Justice Minister Mickey Amery, to address this issue that weighs so heavily on so many. But what did we hear back? Nothing.When asked about the disturbing trend of fully born babies being left to die after abortion, the response was more silence. But silence isn’t leadership — it’s avoidance. They’re playing a game of political chicken, hoping that if they stay quiet long enough, we’ll just go away.But here’s another truth they won’t want to face: We will not be silent. And neither should you.The future of Alberta — and the lives of countless unborn children —depends on our willingness to speak up. Email Smith at premier@gov.ab.ca and tell her that silence is not an option. Richard Dur is the Executive Director, Prolife Alberta
