By Gudrun Schultz
FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, April 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortion activists in the province of New Brunswick—led by the National Abortion Federation based in Washington, D.C.—continue their assault on pro-life advocates, this time by seeking an injunction that would prevent pro-life demonstrators from coming within a certain limit of the Morgentaler abortion clinic in Fredericton.
The National Abortion Federation (NAF), New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women (ACSW) and the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) have demanded that Attorney General Thomas J. Burke, Minister of Justice and Consumer Affairs, introduce legislation to establish a “safe zone” around abortion facilities, and the offices and residences of abortion providers in the province.
While in reality pro-life counselors outside abortion facilities kindly offer women entering alternatives to abortion, and information on abortion, abortion advocates claim they are violent.
“Abortion clinics and providers in Canada have been targeted for violence and harassment by anti-abortion extremists,” said Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of NAF, in a press release April 12. “We urge New Brunswick to follow the lead of British Columbia and enact legislation to protect patients, providers and the communities in which they live.”
Attorney General Burke said he would take the groups’ demand seriously, saying he wanted to discuss the issue with Health Minister Mike Murphy and Public Safety Minister John Foran.
“I will bring this concern… to my colleagues’ attention and hopefully we have the opportunity to look at it more seriously, consult with the appropriate interest groups and then move forward,” said Burke, reported Fredericton’s The Daily Gleaner. “If it is a legitimate concern about the safety of the public, citizens that require the use of this particular facility, if their safety is in jeopardy, I want to make sure that I explore that concern.”
New Brunswick’s steadfast refusal to fund abortions in private clinics has earned the province the particular wrath of abortion activists. A pro-abortion lawyer in Moncton announced in January her intention to launch a lawsuit to force the province to lift funding restrictions on private abortions. A feminist and same-sex marriage activist, Michelle Caron accused the province of maintaining “unconstitutional and discriminatory” restrictions against abortion access. Caron told the CBC she planned on filing suit this spring if the province’s policy remains unchanged.
Abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler filed suit against the province in 2003 on the same funding issue—a decision on that case is still pending.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Feminist Activist Lawyer in Moncton to Launch Suit Forcing Public Funding of Private Abortions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/070115.html
New Brunswick Feminists Pushing for Abortion on Demand, Not Women’s Health
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011605.html
Abortion Funding for Privately Run Clinics? New Brunswick Says No Way
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05012702.html
New Brunswick: Gay Adoption Ok But Religious Freedom for Marriage Commissioners Refused
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07031403.html