OTTAWA (CCN) – In British Columbia, someone who simply prays the Rosary outside an abortion clinic can be arrested. The same thing can happen to someone handing out leaflets or long-stemmed roses. The province’s Access to Abortion Services Act has created a “bubble zone” around clinics to ensure no woman seeking an abortion faces any obstacles.
The Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance (CRFA) thinks the Act’s definitions of “sidewalk interference” and “protest” are too broad. It has intervened in a constitutional challenge involving Donald Spratt before the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Spratt ran afoul of the “bubble zone” law by bearing a nine-foot cross with a sign saying “Thou shalt not murder” and speaking about the need for repentance and God’s forgiveness. A provincial court justice found Spratt guilty of “sidewalk interference” under the act. The justice said she was bound by a B.C. Supreme Court decision in the R. vs. Lewis case that found the bubble zone constitutional.
The alliance, composed of the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL), the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), and the Christian Legal Fellowship, argues in its legal brief or factum that the act infringes on freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
“Prayerful witness and protests are something in my view the courts should be loathe to intrude upon,” said CCRL president Phil Horgan in a phone interview from Toronto. Horgan pointed out there are gradations from peaceful prayer to handing out leaflets or sidewalk counselling that could become problematic if those doing so are too persistent.
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Can you believe that? You can be arrested for praying in front of an abortion clinic! What insanity!
I seriously hope that this law is struck down. It's a grave injustice to not to be able to protest and express one's disagreement, especially through something as innocuous as a rosary.
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