Thursday afternoon's abortion rallies were some of the quietest protests Whitehorse has seen in the last year, but the strength of each side's convictions was evident all the same.

The pro-life group gathered outside the Old Log Church, Christian soft-rock music playing on a sound system in the background.

Children weaved among the adults, but the estimated 50-person group was mostly made up of middle-aged and older residents, with a handful of teens and young adults thrown in.

A few blocks over, in front of the Elijah Smith Building, a second, slightly smaller group with more brightly coloured signs gathered, standing firm behind a woman's right to choose.

"We want to show the community and the anti-choice movement that there are people who are standing for this right to have access to abortion,” explained Ketsia Houde, the executive director of Les EssentiElles.

Making abortion illegal wouldn't stop abortions, she argued. It would, however, make them unsafe.

The Yukon has one of the highest abortion rates in the country, indicating a clear need for the service, Houde added.

Reasons for the high rate vary from rape, to failed contraceptives, and expensive birth control.

But failed contraceptives accounts for the highest number of abortions, says a leaflet handed out at the rally.

"In the Yukon, the access to health care is difficult, mostly in the communities, because you only have access to a community health centre, and there's the price of contraceptives as well,” Houde said.

"For teenagers and women who don't have much money or don't have insurance coverage, you need to pay $30 to $40 a month for contraceptives pills,” she added.

Anti-abortion and pro-choice rallies took place across the country Thursday, with many pro-lifers focusing on the issue of sex-selective abortion.

The issue was highlighted in March, when Conservative MP Mark Warawa attempted to raise it in Parliament. He was removed from the list of MPs selected to speak that day and an all-party committee of MPs declared his motion ineligible.

But making abortion illegal wouldn't combat the issue of sex-selective abortion, said Houde. What would is gender equality.

Back at the Old Log Church, Edna Lorenzen, one of the pro-life organizers and a member of the Whitehorse Right to Life Society, explained why she's against abortion.

Lorenzen wore a gold-coloured pin, the same size and shape as the feet of 10-week-old fetus.

The pins were handed out at the rally along with a small pamphlet outlining the various stages of development from conception to birth.

"Life is so precious, it's so important,” Lorenzen said. "I can't imagine not wanting a child. If you don't want it, have the child, give it up for adoption.

"There are always other options besides abortion,” she said.

Even in situations of rape or incest, Lorenzen remains convinced abortion is not the solution.

"These children are still children,” she said.

"If they don't want them, they can always give them up for adoption, if they can't stand the fact that it was through force that they had this child,” Lorenzen added.

"I think it's very traumatic to be raped, but that is still a part of her in that womb.”

Catholic Bishop Gary Gordon agrees.

"The choice for life is a greater choice than any other choice, and that's kind of what the right-to-life movement is all about,” Gordon said.

He went on to explain that the group would like legislatures across the country to recognize that life begins at conception and continues until the natural end.

The pro-life group marched from the Old Log Church to Main Street, where the pro-choice supporters had gathered. Both sides remained quiet as the pro-lifers walked by.

"I can't believe we still have to protest this,” said Hillary Aitken.

"I thought it was decided in the '70s and the '80s, but we'll be here as long as there's another side.”

Aitken, the program co-ordinator at the Victoria Faulkner Women's Centre, said abortion has been an issue for more than a century in Canada.

"It comes down to a woman's right, control over her body, control over reproductive justice,” Aitken said.

"Bringing a child into the world has a huge impact on a woman's life and those around her, so of course it's her decision, and any attempt to move otherwise is an affront to women's rights in this country,” she said.

"If you don't support abortions, don't have one, but leave the rest of us to make our own choice as well.”