CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — A top Canadian pro-life group is planning legal action against the city of Calgary for restricting the distribution of pro-life flyers with images of aborted babies.
The Canadian Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) plans to legally challenge the recent Calgary bylaw that greatly restricts the distribution of pro-life materials, particularly abortion victim photography.
“CCBR is currently evaluating our legal recourse as to how we will fight and demonstrate that this bylaw is significant violation of our Charter protected rights to freedom of expression,” Cameron Cote, CCBR western outreach director, told LifeSiteNews.
According to Cote, the bylaw not only censors abortion victim photography but bans “ultrasound images of naturally developing pre-born children, hiding from Calgarians both the beautiful reality of pre-born life.”
“Without effective pro-life literature and resources, mothers and fathers will not be equipped with the information they need to make informed decisions about abortion, and tragically it will be their children who will pay the ultimate price,” he argued.
Passed in May, the bylaw states that flyers with graphic images of aborted babies, or “fetuses” as it says, “must be concealed in an opaque envelope, with a graphic content warning, and include the name and address of the sender, when delivered to homes.”
Those found to violate the new rule can face fines of up to $1,000 per violation, and the city has promised to “investigate” and enforce the bylaw.
“Calgarians receive a flyer with a graphic image of a fetus that is not enclosed in an envelope, with both a warning label and sender’s address, they may call 311 to report it,” the city said.
In addition to street activism, a large part of CCBR’s mission is distributing pro-life flyers containing abortion victim photography to houses across Canada. CCBR argues that the bylaw proves the effectiveness of their pro-life flyers.
“There are children alive today who were scheduled to be killed by abortion, but who weren’t because their parents received one of our postcards and saw the reality of what abortion would do to their son or daughter,” Cote revealed.
He further explained that “third-party polling has found that a significant majority of people who view our postcards are willing to admit they feel more negatively about abortion after viewing the images than before.”
“All that to say, recent efforts to censor our pro-life message, particularly in the city of Calgary, only affirm this truth, as it seeks to keep hidden the vital truth which has already saved multiple lives,” Cote added.
“Calgary city council and those who have supported this censorship are inherently acknowledging that when people come face to face with the tiny boys and girls killed by abortion, it is very difficult to continue supporting the status quo,” he revealed.
CCBR remains confident that the bylaw will not stand, as it and other laws banning pro-life activism are “major violations of our Charter rights.”
“Other communities and jurisdictions will understand that not only is abortion victim photography necessary and appropriate for the ongoing dialogue surrounding the injustice of abortion, but also that attempting to censor CCBR’s projects by violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot and will not be supported,” Cote said.