THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Anti-abortion protesters take part in the March for Life on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, May 12, 2011.

Mayor Jim Watson was drawn into a heated discussion about abortion with women on Twitter and Facebook a day before the controversial National March for Life in Ottawa Thursday.

The spark for the exchange? Watson again granted march organizers’ request he proclaim Thursday Respect for Life Day in Ottawa, as he did last year.

Organizers of the pro-life march expect more than 15,000 people will go to Parliament Hill to demand, “legal protection for all human beings from the time of conception to the moment of natural death.”

The proclamation angered pro-choice advocates, but the mayor defended himself saying he is personally “pro-choice” and the proclamation doesn’t violate city policy.

On Wednesday, the debate heated up again when women slammed the mayor for once again supporting the proclamation. Below are some excerpts from the discussion on Twitter.

Jim Hughes, national president of the Campaign for Life Coalition, said he welcomes the mayor’s proclamation which can help people look at the abortion issue differently.

“Like some other people (Watson) needs to be educated,” said Hughes, adding that he hopes one day Watson will become a pro-lifer and join them on Parliament Hill.

One woman on Twitter argued the proclamation is religiously motivated. The city’s proclamation policy states that they must not be religiously or politically motivated.

To clarify the policy, Watson wrote at length on his Facebook page.

“’Politically or religiously motivated,’ means affiliated for or against a specific political party, candidate, or religion,” the mayor wrote.

“The mere fact that a political party, a candidate, or a religion has adopted a particular view on a subject of public discourse does not automatically disqualify that subject from being raised in a proclamation unless it otherwise violates legislation or City’s policies.”

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