A Calgary playwright says her play about abortion aims to bring the two sides of the contentious debate together, not create more controversy.

Jane Cawthorne's The Abortion Monologues will be presented on Feb. 4 at Mount Royal University.

The show, which premiered last year in Portland, Ore., mostly to an audience of abortion providers from across North America and Mexico, features 19 Calgary actors.

'It's [the play] forgetting the victims of abortion and that is the unborn.'—Leah Hallman, Campus Pro-Life

Cawthorne said the women tell the stories she heard during 20 years working in the fields of women's rights, reproductive rights and the social justice movement.

"I'm creating fictional women to do this. They can talk about this very difficult choice without taking on the personal risk," she said.

1-sided play, says anti-abortion activist

Cawthorne is pro-choice, but hopes her play will make people on both sides of the abortion debate rethink their beliefs and develop empathy for women making a very difficult decision.

"There are women who are making this choice right now, and they deserve our respect and our empathy. And their stories, if we understand them, if we listen to them, if we are open to listening to them might help us bring those two very polarized positions together."

The president of the University of Calgary's anti-abortion club said the play sounds "a little bit bizarre and tragic."

Leah Hallman of Campus Pro-life said she respects Cawthorne's artistic right to tell a story, but feels the Abortion Monologues is like telling the story of slavery without hearing from slaves.

"Because it's forgetting the victims of abortion and that is the unborn," she said.

Cawthorne counters that her pro-choice play includes the stories of women who choose not to have an abortion.

If that isn't good enough for some, they should write their own play, Cawthorne said.