Anti-abortion group barred from hospital grounds in N. Brunswick

BATHURST, N.B. — As provinces across Canada move to establish protest-free buffer zones around abortion providers, a judge has banned anti-abortion activists from demonstrating on the grounds of a hospital in northern New Brunswick.

Court of Queen’s Bench Judge Réginald Léger granted a permanent injunction against protesters outside the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst.

The anti-abortion picketers, affiliated with the 40 Days for Life campaign, put the safety of patients and employees at risk, Léger said in his decision.

The ruling comes amid efforts across the country to strike a balance between the constitutional right to free expression and ensuring safe access to health-care services without harassment or intimidation.

The Vitalite Health Network, which operates the hospital, applied for the permanent injunction after the anti-abortion group obstructed traffic at the hospital and forced an ambulance to stop en route to the emergency department in 2012.

The ambulance driver described during the trial having to brake “as fast as possible” due to a picketer at the hospital that had stepped off the sidewalk.

His co-worker was tossed toward the back of the ambulance, causing the mask on a patient suffering from cardiac discomfort to be dislodged.

Bernard Jacques, a defendant in the case, said the group is made up of older people protesting peacefully in silence and prayer to raise awareness about abortion.

Ronald Jessulat, another defendant, said the group has the right to express their beliefs near the public hospital in an attempt to change the minds of some women considering an abortion.