ABORTION SAFE ZONE RIGHT STEP
Some opponents of the Alberta government bill to create protest-free zones around abortion clinics argue that it impinges on freedom of speech.
The sanctity of open expression in a democratic society is not the issue at stake. Under the proposed legislation, protesters — both prochoice and anti-abortion — still have the right to voice their opinions on this most divisive topic.
Bill 9, the Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act, places reasonable limits on anti-abortion activists.
They are free to demonstrate, but that right shouldn’t include forcing women and their partners to run a gauntlet of intimidation and harassment when seeking a highly personal medical procedure that’s been legal in Canada for 30 years.
Screaming at, videotaping or waving signs bearing graphic images at women going through an already difficult time wouldn’t be tolerated for people seeking any other medical procedure.
The draft law would bring Alberta in line with provinces such as British Columbia and Ontario where protesters are kept at least 50 metres away from abortion clinics.
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney says buffer zones are already in place, in the form of court injunctions used by abortion clinics to keep protesters at bay. But those orders don’t go far enough in deterring abusive behaviour because legal consequences for violators usually don’t amount to more than being told by police to move along.
Under Bill 9, the safe zone is backed up by penalties with bite. Law-breakers could face a $10,000 fine and one year in jail.
No matter the politics that swirl around abortion, this bill that protects citizens accessing a legal medical procedure represents the right thing to do.
Opponents who cry freedom of speech should direct their anger not at the NDP government but at the official Opposition UCP for failing to represent them and their views in the legislature. For Kenney to say he will abstain from voting on Bill 9 is already a craven cop-out — but when his entire caucus walked out of legislature chambers last Tuesday night to avoid debating the bill — that amounts to political cowardice and a disgraceful dereliction of their duties as MLAs.
They should be ashamed.