A Saskatchewan NDP MLA’s proposed bill to create “bubble zones” around abortion clinics to prevent women from supposedly being harassed is one-sided and anti-women, a national pro-life group says.
Saskatoon-University MLA Jennifer Bowes introduced a private member’s bill on May 12 titled An Act to Provide Safe Access to Abortion Services. The bill would ensure women have their “constitutionally protected right to access health care, free of harassment and intimidation” while also protecting health-care workers and service providers who perform abortions.
Elements of the bill include establishing access zones up to 150 metres around the clinic to prohibit intimidation of patients; ensuring no person can repeatedly harass or intimidate abortion workers in-person, by phone or online while attempting to dissuade employees from doing their jobs; and giving $5,000 fines for a first offence and up to $10,000 fines for subsequent offences.
“It is far too common to hear stories of patients being aggressively harassed while trying to make the best medical decisions for their reproductive health,” Bowes said in a news release. “No patient or health-care and service provider in this country should ever face harassment and intimidation for accessing or providing an essential service.”
There are two main problems with this proposed legislation, Tabitha Ewert, legal counsel for national pro-life advocacy group We Need A Law, told the Express. The first is that it attacks freedom of expression for people who hold pro-life beliefs. The bill doesn’t target general demonstrations or signs but focuses specifically on pro-life gatherings and messages.
That is why bubble zones around clinics are one-sided, she pointed out. Two women could stand together, with one holding a sign saying “I don’t regret my abortion” and another with a sign saying “I regret my abortion,” and only the latter would be considered illegal.
“That (type of legislation) is something being challenged in the Ontario courts right now. We’re still waiting for a ruling on the constitutionality (of it),” Ewert said.
The second issue is what the proposed bill says about women and how it bans information for them, she continued. Women don’t need protection from information; they need more of it to make informed choices. Silencing one message doesn’t increase autonomy; it decreases information and potential supports.
“So, I think it’s just generally all-around a bad law,” Ewert added.
Bubble zones talk about protecting women from harassment and intimidation, but it’s already illegal to perform those actions under the Criminal Code regardless of where women are, she pointed out. These zones really prevent women from hearing the pro-life message: that “human rights for all human beings” extends to the smallest humans — pre-born children in the womb.
Twice a year, for-life supporters in 950 cities across 64 countries gather in front of abortion clinics during 40 Days for Life to hold signs and be “prayerfully present,” explained Jean Landry, president of Moose Jaw Right to Life. There is very little evidence of demonstrators harassing women during these events, but there is evidence of women expressing gratitude for the support they received since some were unsure about ending their pregnancies.
“We’ve heard many, many testimonies to this (indecisiveness). She’s thinking, ‘If only I could be certain,’” Landry continued. “And then many of them will come back to the people that are out there and say, ‘Thank you for being here. I wasn’t sure. And your presence was my final decision, was my sign to me that yes, I need to keep my baby.’”
Landry added that promoting the pro-life message can be difficult since society has become hostile to different points of view.
Bowes’ private member’s bill may not pass in the Saskatchewan legislature since such bills — especially those from the Opposition — rarely do, while the spring session ends on May 14.
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