By-law to ban public display of graphic anti-abortion posters returned to city staff for revisions

A political push at London City Hall to forbid the public display of graphic imagery will take more time.

On Tuesday, council debated if Civic Administration should continue working on a by-law amendment to prohibit posters of fetuses from being shown along roadways and in other public spaces.

“You can have your opinions, absolutely,” Coun. Hadleigh McAlister explained. “But I don’t think that you should traumatize people to make your point.”

However, some councillors wanted to stop work on the by-law amendment fearing a legal challenge.

“We are in the middle of doing a dance on a huge land mine which is ready to blow — called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” warned Coun. Paul van Meerbergen.

Initially, city staff prepared an amendment to the Streets By-law that would forbid the display of fetuses (or parts of fetuses) in public spaces, including sidewalks.

However, after a confidential discussion with the city solicitor behind closed doors, a committee recommended the amendment be sent back to staff for more work.

A ban on the public display of graphic images would break new ground.

A review of other Ontario cities show no similar by-laws in place, and a graphic sign by-law in Calgary only applies around schools.

In May 2022, London passed a by-law requiring that graphic anti-abortion flyers be placed in clearly labelled envelopes before being delivered door-to-door.

According to the city solicitor, the graphic flyer by-law has not been challenged in court.

By a vote of 9-6, the ban on displaying graphic images in public places was referred back to staff for more work.

“When it comes to being able to enforce this, I really do hope the [report] provides some thought in terms of resources, and how practical it will be to enforce this,” said Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis.