BATHURST, New Brunswick, May 15, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A judge at the Court of Queen's Bench in Bathurst, New Brunswick has thrown out a request for a permanent injunction to bar Bathurst pro-lifers from holding their annual 40 Days for Life Campaign prayer vigil in front of the Chaleur Regional Hospital.
Bathurst Right to Life has been holding the peaceful prayer vigil on the lawn and sidewalk of the long driveway leading to the hospital for many years. But last October a temporary injunction was granted to Vitalité Health Network, which operates hospitals in the region, forcing the 40 Days for Life Campaign participants off the driveway sidewalk.
“Our small group, usually numbering from 2 to 15 persons, walks along the 750 foot four lane access driveway sidewalk, some engaged in silent or audible prayer, others chatting amongst themselves. Quiet, peaceful, non-confrontational, non-disruptive,” Ron Jessulat, one of the participants, told LifeSiteNews.
“It seems that with changes in administration and a new board of directors there has come a new and bully-type attitude toward those of us who, by our peaceful presence and drawing attention to the existence of an abortion clinic in the Chaleur Regional Hospital, would be an embarrassment to the hospital’s image,” Mr. Jessulat said.
“Our group was told to leave what the hospital corporation considered its ‘property,’ actually owned by NB Supply and Services. We replied that we had a right to be here on what we considered public property and we were not breaking any law. The police were then called; however, they found no fault in what we were doing.”
When a temporary injunction against the 40 Days for Life group was granted to the hospital, the pro-lifers simply moved to the public sidewalk of Sunset Drive along which the hospital is located.
When Vitalité Health Network applied for a permanent injunction against the pro-life group, Judge J. A. Réginald Léger threw out the attempt to create a bubble zone around the publicly funded hospital.
Terrence P. Lenihan, who represented the pro-lifers at the Court of Queen's Bench, said the judge dismissed the case because Vitalité Health Network didn't follow the correct procedure in filing the case.
However, Mr. Jessulat believes that Judge Léger, the same who issued the temporary injunction, may have had reservations about what the hospital authority was attempting to establish in their request for a permanent injunction.
“In reading the judge’s deliberation, one can detect a certain undercurrent of disapproval at what Vitalité was trying to do in the persecution of this small and peaceful group who were only exercising their Charter Rights to freedom of expression,” Jessulat said. “Perhaps, with more time to examine our affidavits, he could see that the claims by Vitalité could not be substantiated by the facts. Our Charter Rights can only be restrained under certain conditions, and even if Vitalité doesn’t like the message of our prayer vigil, they are not allowed to muzzle us.”
The pro-lifers pointed out that Vitalité has 60 days to appeal the case. “We are working hard to prevent that from happening by drawing attention to large amounts of precious health care dollars that have already been wasted in paying outside legal fees for this vexatious injunction, and how much more would be wasted in a court of appeal,” said Mr. Jessulat.
Luc Foulem, the communications director for Vitalité Health Network, told the local newspaper that his organization has not yet decided to pursue an appeal.
“We are presently reviewing the court decision and will consult with our legal counsel to determine our approach going forward,” Foulem told The Northern Light.
According to the Bathurst Pro-life Committee, the abortion situation in New Brunswick is unique in that under the province's Medical Services Payment Act, abortion is not an entitled service unless it is deemed to be “medically required” by two physicians, one of whom must be a gynecologist. It must also be performed in a provincial hospital.
“The rules would appear to be strict,” said Mr. Jessulat. “In actual fact, the number of surgical abortions performed in New Brunswick hospitals would indicate a situation approaching abortion-on-demand.”
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All other abortions committed in New Brunswick must be paid out-of-pocket by the client at the only private abortion clinic in the province: the Morgentaler Clinic located in Fredericton. Morgentaler has filed a lawsuit against the province to have the abortions done at his clinic funded by Medicare. This lawsuit has languished in the courts for about 10 years without resolution.
“One can only speculate why the province fights Morgentaler in the courts while running their own abortion clinics in certain hospitals,” Mr. Jessulat remarked to LifeSiteNews. “According to the most reliable figures, over 1000 abortions are performed every year, with 600 at the Morgentaler clinic and about 400 in our hospitals.
“Only 2 hospitals perform abortions: the Georges L. Dumont Hospital in Moncton and the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst. Historically, the Department of Health has quietly established these abortion clinics in a certain city only to move them to another hospital some years later. That is why it came as a shock to Bathurst residents when they learned that abortions were now being performed in our own hospital under the guise of a Family Planning Clinic.”
While Bathurst Right to Life intends to continue holding the 40 Days for Life Campaign in front of the Chaleur Regional Hospital again this fall, two other pro-life events are scheduled to take place in New Brunswick this month.
The New Brunswick Right to Life Association will hold its annual March for Life on Thursday, May 16 in Fredericton. (contact info: https://nbrighttolife.ca (506) 459-8990 or 1-888-796-9600)
Then the annual Bathurst March for Life will take place on Saturday, May 25, beginning at 1:30 pm at Holy Family Church on St. Peter Avenue.
Ron Jessulat said that, “following music, testimony and a few speeches (including Peter Ryan, executive director of NBRL), a 20 minute walk will proceed along St. Peter Ave to promote awareness of the dangers of abortion and euthanasia in our society. Since we are an organization that promotes respect for life, euthanasia is an upcoming issue that we also embrace in our mandate.”
Contact:
Chaleur Regional Hospital
1750 Sunset Drive
Bathurst, New Brunswick E2A 4L7
(506) 544-3000
www.santeacadie-bathursthealth.ca