Canada: Ontario makes it illegal to protest outside and near abortion clinics

Ontario makes it illegal to protest outside and near abortion clinics
Legislature passes bill to create zones around 8 abortion clinics in the province

The Canadian Press
Posted: Oct 25, 2017

It will soon be illegal to protest outside and near abortion clinics in Ontario.

The legislature passed a bill Wednesday to create zones around the eight clinics in the province of between 50 and 150 metres in which anti-abortion protests, advising a person not to get an abortion, and intimidation or interfering with a woman's ability to access the services will be banned.

The ban will also automatically apply to 150 metres around the homes of abortion staff and health professionals who provide the services.

Continued at source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-abortion-protest-bill-1.4372090

Canada: Province urged to file injunction against ‘horrifying’ anti-abortion images

Province urged to file injunction against ‘horrifying’ anti-abortion images
Group says it has distributed hundreds of thousands of flyers to mailboxes in order to ‘answer questions and provide information.’

By Scott Wheeler, Staff Reporter
Thu., Aug. 24, 2017

A group of Toronto public officials petitioned the provincial government on Thursday to file an injunction to block the “disturbing anti-abortion images” that are increasingly appearing on posters and flyers in the city.

The letter is addressed to attorney general Yasir Naqvi, and backed by Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns, Toronto District School Board trustee Jennifer Story, and city councillors Paula Fletcher and Mary Fragedakis.

In it, the quartet joined city councillor Sarah Doucette in criticizing the use of “horrifying images by an anti-abortion group, the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform.”

Continued at source: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/08/24/province-urged-to-file-injunction-against-horrifying-anti-abortion-images.html

Canada: Make abortion clinic ‘bubble zones’ larger, advocates tell Ontario’s AG

Make abortion clinic 'bubble zones' larger, advocates tell Ontario's AG

'Protests should take place a safe distance from where patients are seeking healthcare,' letter says

By Kate Bueckert, CBC News
Posted: Aug 02, 2017

A letter calling on the province to keep protesters 150 metres away from abortion clinics and health care providers who provide abortion services has been signed by eight reproductive rights advocacy groups, including one from Kitchener.

Lyndsey Butcher, executive director of the Shore Centre — formerly Planned Parenthood — said new legislation being drafted by Attorney General Yasir Naqvi is based on laws in other provinces, which mandate protesters must stay 50 metres away.

Continued at source: CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/abortion-clinics-bubble-zones-lyndsey-butcher-1.4232561

Canada: Yasir Naqvi to propose safe zones around Ontario abortion clinics

Yasir Naqvi to propose safe zones around Ontario abortion clinics
Similar laws already in place in B.C., N.L., Quebec

CBC News Posted: May 29, 2017

Ontario Attorney General and Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi plans to propose a bill this fall that would create safe zones around abortion clinics in the province, citing reports of harassment by a small group of protesters outside a clinic in his riding.

Naqvi made the announcement Monday morning alongside Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Coun. Catherine McKenney, saying laws like this are more important than ever in an increasingly polarized society.

Continued: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-province-protect-abortion-clincs-1.4135673

Canada: Ontario Attorney-General considering options to prevent harassment outside abortion clinics

Ontario Attorney-General considering options to prevent harassment outside abortion clinics

Michelle Zilio
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General is looking at how it can stop harassment outside the province’s abortion clinics after a call from Ottawa’s mayor to consider a law that would ban protesters from demonstrating on the doorsteps of facilities that provide abortion services.

Mayor Jim Watson called on the government to review the possibility of legislation that would protect women from harassment by protesters outside abortion clinics, including one steps from Parliament Hill. Patients and staff at Ottawa’s Morgentaler abortion clinic have reported repeated pestering from anti-abortion protesters carrying graphic placards on the sidewalk outside 65 Bank St.

Continued at source: Globe & Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-attorney-general-considering-options-to-prevent-harassment-outside-abortion-clinics/article35109959/