B.C. Bubble Zone Law Upheld
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a challenge to a provincial law banning protests outside abortion clinics after 11 years of court proceedings. The Court confirmed a unanimous ruling by the British Columbia Appeal Court upholding the Access to Abortion Services Act or “bubble zone” law, which prohibits protesters from coming within 50 meters of reproductive health care facilities.
Anti-abortion extremist Donald David Spratt was arrested in 1998 for violating the Access to Abortion Services Act and has been challenging the law ever since. The day after this month’s Supreme Court decision, Spratt and a female protester were arrested outside NAF member Everywoman’s Health Centre in Vancouver for again violating the bubble zone law. They are scheduled to appear in court this week.