Abortion clinic bubble zone bill approved

UCP MLAs walk out ahead of vote

EDMONTON Legislation to create protest-free zones around Alberta abortion clinics passed Wednesday after United Conservative Party MLAs again refused to vote on the bill.

Bill 9 — called the Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act — aims to curb harassment that patients and staff experience outside abortion clinics. “Alberta women are tired of being bullied and harassed when they access health care,” said Health Minister Sarah Hoffman during the bill’s third reading. “This is certainly a pivotal moment in Alberta’s history.”

The legislation creates 50-metre safe zones around clinics, bringing Alberta in line with provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia. Protesters are also banned from taking photos and videos of people within that area.

UCP MLAs have avoided debating or voting on the bill in the legislature. On Wednesday, a handful were present during third reading, but they walked out ahead of the vote. In April, UCP Leader Jason Kenney said he would abstain from voting on Bill 9 and that most of his caucus would follow suit.

Kenney, a vocal abortion opponent, told reporters he wouldn’t play games with the NDP on “divisive social issues.”

“Everything I’ve said about this stands,” Kenney said Wednesday ahead of the debate. “I think the courts are in a better position to adjudicate the tension between freedom of expression and public safety.

“They can try to divide Albertans on hot-button issues, but they’ll be talking to themselves,” he said.

The UCP’s absence was cowardly, said Marie Gordon, a family lawyer who helped found the Woman’s Health Options clinic in Edmonton in 1990. It’s one of two clinics, along with the Kensington Clinic in Calgary, that performs more than 75 per cent of abortions in Alberta.

Both clinics have relied on court injunctions to deter protesters.

“How can they not agree that health-care providers and patients should be free from abuse?” Gordon said in an interview after watching the bill pass from the gallery. “I hope they pay dearly for the act of abdicating their responsibilities.

“Each one of them represents women in their ridings, and those women are watching.”

She said it’s a reminder the issue is still divisive.

“It’s a little discouraging to know that this is still an issue and that future governments ... might try to reduce access to fully publiclyfunded abortion,” she said.

Earlier this month, the bill was amended to increase the no-go zones to 150 metres if smaller bubbles aren’t effective.

The only MLA to vote against the bill was Independent Derek Fildebrandt, who has repeatedly voiced concerns that the legislation infringes on freedom of speech.