Politicians back banning graphic flyers despite possible legal challenge by anti-abortion group
City hall moved one step closer to banning the door to door delivery of graphic flyers, including those showing aborted fetuses.
On Tuesday, the Community and Protective Services Committee unanimously voted to recommend council approve a draft by-law forbidding door to door distribution of any graphic images in London.
Tickets would be $350 dollars, doubling for repeat offenders.
Flyers containing images of dead fetuses sparked outrage after they were dropped into many Londoners’ mailboxes in 2020.
“This is not an abortion issue, it’s (about) the damage these images do,” explained Coun. Anna Hopkins.
Graphic images would be defined as “a detailed pictorial image or series of images, containing potentially sensitive content that may cause or trigger a negative reaction to the health and wellbeing of any person at any scale. An example of a graphic image may include, but is not limited to, a dismembered human beings or aborted fetuses.”
Coun. Helmer said the definition may need to be fine tuned before going to council for a vote.
He reminded colleagues on the committee that municipal councils have the power to enact by-laws that protect residents from harm.
“It is triggering for people who have lost miscarriages, or have had abortions, or ectopic pregnancies,” Helmer added. “It’s very traumatizing for many people in the community. The precise purpose of distributing these images is to inflame all of that.”
However, last week the organization behind the graphic anti-abortion flyers, the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) warned it would launch a legal challenge of the by-law is enacted.
“The Supreme Court has said that content-based discrimination is unconstitutional. The proposed by-law would attempt to regulate and prohibit specific messages, exactly what no government has the legal authority to do,” wrote Blaise Alleyne in an email to CTV News.
“CCBR would explore all legal options to respond to unconstitutional restrictions on our Charter right to freedom of expression,” he added.
Council will consider approving the new bylaw on March 22.
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