Anti-abortion flag at Ottawa City Hall taken down after backlash

The flag of ananti-abortion movement raised at city hall has come down Thursday afternoon after some city councillors expressed outrage and demanded it be removed.

• March for Life anti-abortion rally in pictures

The raising of the March for Life flag, which coincidedwith a major rally in Ottawa, angered many on social media and prompted seven city councillors todemand itbe taken down.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was widely criticized for allowing the flag to be raised, but he says the March for Life flag was not approved by him.

Group implied mayor 'went along with this'

LifeSiteNews.com tweeted a video of a March for Life flag being raised at City Hall as about 20 people looked on. No elected officials appeared to be present at the flag-raising.

In the video, a spokesman for the group said he was "so proud of the mayor and the [city] staff that they went along with this."

Watson said he never personally spoke to anyone from the anti-abortion movement.

A spokesperson for his office said the mayor received an email on April 24 referencing the March for Life and that he politely responded that their feedback would be taken into consideration, but did not take any further action.

Watson said he did not support the raising of the flag and has publicly stated he supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.

But when the flag first went up, some people did not see it that way.

By early afternoona number of city councillorshad complained about the flag-raising and proclamation, with seven of them signinga letter demanding the flag be taken down immediately.