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Ontario Bill Would Ban Pro-Life Protests Within 50 Yards Of Abortion Clinics

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David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Ontario’s Liberal government wants to ban pro-life protests within at least 50 yards of abortion providers.

The Safe Access to Abortion Services Act introduced Wednesday would establish “buffer zones” around hospitals and clinics that provide abortions, and the homes of abortion practitioners. Those buffer zones could soon be expanded to 150 yards, the Toronto Star reports.

At least one prominent pro-life leader in Canada says that will make “legitimate protest virtually impossible.”

The government’s definition of protest includes the distribution of literature outlining alternatives to abortion or highlighting the health risks associated with the procedure.

Violation of these abortion safe spaces will cost protesters up to $5,000 and six months in jail for a first offense and up to $10,000 and 12 months in jail for any subsequent breach.

The Ontario government has even included pharmacies in their abortion bubbles because most locations are selling the abortion pill.

In a surprise announcement, the provincial Progressive Conservative opposition said they will support the bill and urged swift passage; but the government said it would not pass the bill immediately.

The bill would be a milestone for women who could now access abortions “freely, without fear, without fear for her safety, privacy or dignity, without fear of being threatened with violence, harassment or intimidation,” the province’s attorney general Yasir Naqvi said in a statement.

“No woman should ever have to take such things into account, and neither should the professionals who provide abortion services when they are just trying to get to work in the morning, like the rest of us,” Naqvi said.

But pro-life leader Gwen Landolt calls the legislation “extreme, unreasonable and intolerant.”

The vice president of REAL Women told The Daily Caller on Thursday that she believes the law will be challenged in court because it “attacks free speech.” She believes there will be “plenty of breaches of this law because people cannot stand idly by and watch the unborn murdered.”

Landolt said the bill was designed “to protect the abortion industry and to ensure they continue to make money.”

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