VIEWPOINT: ‘Bubble zone’ law grants long overdue safety for women’s health rights

By Alicia Wachon

As the anti-abortion protest law comes into effect on Feb. 1, it addresses a central challenge that abortion clinics have faced for years: that anyone entering these clinics have risked being harmed or disrespected because of their deeply personal and invariably difficult decision to end a pregnancy.

Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, who is also Ottawa Centre’s Liberal MPP, announced the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act in October, stating that a 50-metre “bubble zone” would surround all abortion clinics in Ontario — including one in downtown Ottawa — starting next month.

The protective zone, designed to keep anti-abortion protesters and their frequently graphic placards at bay, will also shelter any other facility that deals with abortion-related services, such as hospitals or pharmacies that distribute pills.

Naqvi additionally explained that a greater zone of 150 metres would surround abortion doctors and their staff members’ homes, with the government having the ability to either expand or shorten this distance as necessary.

There is strong hope that the new rules will protect all women, practitioners and staff members at these clinics from being further harassed by anti-abortion demonstrators.

Naturally, the legislation ignited controversy. Without the law, women faced not being able to freely exercise their right to access health care services or maintain their personal security. On the other side, pro-life protesters claimed the bubble zone violated their constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly.

But as Naqvi rightly said at a May 2017 press conference at the Centretown Community Health Centre, a woman is entitled to seek health care services “without fear of being judged or publicly humiliated because of her choice.”

Naqvi made that statement after an alleged incident at the Morgentaler Clinic on Bank Street in Centretown, where a woman said she was spat on by a protester. A city bylaw stating that all protesters must stand on the other side of the street from the clinic was also being routinely flouted, pro-choice advocates argued at the time.

The actions of anti-abortion protesters pushing the limits of their constitutional rights had come to be seen as displays of aggressive behaviour rather than peaceful opposition.

It seemed like an obvious time to begin developing a provincial law that finally addressed the years of trauma experienced by women seeking abortion services, as well as risks faced by clinic staff. The safety and respectful treatment of people entering such facilities should take precedence over someone who chooses to proclaim their opinion in a psychologically harmful, and sometimes physically menacing manner.

Naqvi has argued that “ensuring women’s safety” should not be “a divisive issue.” Opposition to the bubble zone law, he has insisted, “cannot and will not diminish our resolve,” and that “in an increasingly polarized society, it is critical that we protect a woman’s right to choose.”

It’s important to recognize that the new law will not prohibit free speech — it will only limit the exercise of that right to a specific area. Anti-abortion advocates will still be allowed to express their opinions, but women seeking an abortion will no longer be intimidated or threatened by protesters for pursuing a choice about their own body.

That’s as it should be.