For some, “freedom of speech” includes the right to get in the faces, literally, of those you disagree with and prevent them from engaging in legal, celebrated, and sometimes publicly funded health services.
But today, the BC Court of Appeal did not hold up that definition, instead it dismissed the claims that the “bubble zone” around BC’s abortion clinics is an infringement on “freedom of speech”.
The B.C. Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday said that while the right to oppose abortion is constitutionally protected, the purpose of the provincial law to protect vulnerable women and those who provide for their care justified limiting protesters’ rights.“The purpose or objective of the [Access to Abortion Services] Act is sufficiently important to justify a limitation on the way in which freedom of expression is exercised in an area adjacent to the facilities providing abortion services,” it said.
More details here.
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