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Parliament Hill, Ottawa.Leonid Andronov / Shutterstock.com

OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A new bill proposed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government could have pro-life and medical freedom protesters thrown in jail for 10 years under Criminal Code amendments. 

The Liberal government under Trudeau has introduced three bills since the federal election in September. One of those bills is Bill C-3, which intends to amend the Criminal Code of Canada.

The bill reads:

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to, among other things,

(a) create an offence of intimidating a person in order to impede them from obtaining health services, intimidating a health professional in order to impede them in the performance of their duties or intimidating a person who assists a health professional in order to impede the person in providing that assistance;

(b) create an offence of obstructing or interfering with a person’s lawful access to a place at which health services are provided, subject to a defence of attending at the place for the purpose only of obtaining or communicating information; and

(c) add the commission of an offence against a person who was providing health services and the commission of an offence that had the effect of impeding another person from obtaining health services as aggravating sentencing factors for any offence.

Included in the bill is the proposal that “every person who commits an offence” under the amended Criminal Code “is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years.”

On the campaign trail in September, Trudeau suggested that amendments like these were coming. At one point, he said: “It is not okay that across the country hospitals are having to put up barricades today to manage the mobs coming their way.”

In September, there were peaceful demonstrations that took place on hospital properties. No one was barred from entering the hospitals where demonstrators were present. In fact, CTV News reported that a “crowd’ of “dozens” parted “peacefully to let them [patients] through” as they entered a Toronto area hospital.

Canadian Frontline Nurses was one of the groups that organized the peaceful demonstrations across Canada in September, which were aimed at raising awareness surrounding vaccine segregation mandates, that they believed would harm the health system by forcing health workers to resign.

Some provinces, such as British Columbia, have mandated the abortion-tainted COVID jab — which is still under a trial phase until 2023 — for all health workers. The province has since fired or put on unpaid leave nearly 6,000 health workers for not complying with the mandate.

The shortages of health workers led one clinical program director in a large hospital in the Toronto area to say that “all hospitals are bleeding out.”

Pro-life advocates have historically engaged in peaceful counseling outside of hospitals and other health facilities, talking to expectant mothers who are considering terminating their unborn child’s life.

The proposed amendments have pro-life advocates concerned that not only could a bill like this target medical freedom activists, but would also target pro-life activity around the country.

Campaign Life Coalition national president Jeff Gunnarson said, “In effect, Bill C-3 could criminalize efforts to offer women alternatives to abortion through peaceful demonstrations, prayer, and sidewalk counseling right across the country.”

An estimated 100,000 Canadian children (almost 300 per day) are aborted annually in Canada. The country currently has no legal protection for human beings before birth. Pro-life activists find themselves in the position of being the last hope for these children targeted for termination.

“Mr. Trudeau has had a personal vendetta against pro-life advocates since before he was first elected,” Gunnarson said. “He’s barred pro-life individuals from running for the Liberal Party. He’s denied summer job grants to pro-life organizations … This blatant discrimination is simply outrageous.”

Canadians who fight for the right of a child to be born are worried that the proposed legislation would make the entire country one giant “bubble zone.”

In 2018, Ontario banned pro-life activity — including sidewalk counseling and showing “disapproval” of abortion — within 50 meters of Ontario’s eight abortion centers, a distance that can be increased to 150 meters on request. The legislation is commonly known as Ontario’s “bubble zone” law.

Already under that legislation, those convicted of breaching the law face a steep fine and up to six months in jail.