New court order clears way for antiabortion ads on city buses

Anti-abortion ads may soon be placed on Peterborough Transit buses - and may stay there for a long time - even though citizens staged protests to try to keep the ads away, last winter.

A national pro-life group called the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform (CCBR) has a new court order saying the city cannot refuse to put the ads on the bus.

The city had initially refused the ads, saying they would stir up controversy. But officials later flipflopped, saying the ads would be acceptable after all.

The pro-life group wasn’t going to take the city at its word, though: They went to court in February, seeking an order that would force the city into using the ads. That order was granted in August.

Now they’re free to buy ads, and there’s no way the city can refuse.

City officials didn’t comment on Thursday about whether the prolife group had bought ads yet, and no one from the pro-life group could be reached for comment.

But in a press release, the strategy director for the CCBR suggested the buses in Peterborough will have ads, soon – and those ads will stay up for awhile.

“After this hard fight we would like to keep these ads up for a long time,” stated Nicholas McLeod.

He also said Peterborough will serve as an example to other cities that might try to turn down the group’s ads.

“All municipalities should take note,” McLeod stated. “Pro-life speech is legally protected speech. Censor us and be prepared for a fight.”

There was a reason the city had initially said ‘no, thanks’ to the ads.

They’re graphic: They should photos of fetuses with the slogan, “Growing, growing … gone.”

City officials thought the ads would be upsetting and controversial, so they declined to use them.

But the pro-life group’s lawyers argued the city was contravening the group’s Charter right to free speech. That’s when the city relented.

Carol Crosson, the CCRC’s lawyer, spoke to The Examiner about the court decision on Thursday.

She said it’s essential to freedom of expression that all ads should be allowed, in public.

“How deplorable it would be if governments could decide which message is acceptable and which is not,” she said.

If you want to speak out on any matter, she said, you must be prepared to tolerate someone else’s message – no matter how vehemently you may disagree.

“We need to allow debate, in society,” she said.

Meanwhile, some citizens were upset in the winter after the city flip-flopped and decided it would have to allow the ads.

There were two separate protests, one day in early March: One drew 30 people to the bus depot, and another later in the day drew 60 people to City Hall.

The protesters bore pickets with messages such as “I don’t regret my abortion” and “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.”

Ariel O’Neill and about five others started a private Facebook group to talk about strategies to make their position known.

When the idea for a protest arose, they put out a call on social media for people to join in on International Women’s Day.

At the protest in March, O’Neill said the ads attack a woman’s reproductive choice.

“It’s incendiary,” she said.