Windsor women petitioning for safe zones against abortion protesters at city hospital
A pair of Windsor women have launched a petition calling on Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) to apply for and enforce bubble-zone protection under the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act.
The act, established last year, bans protesting within 50 metres of an abortion clinic. Other facilities, like hospitals, health centres, pharmacies or offices of health care professionals which offer abortion services, can apply for safe access zones.
The Operation WRH Bubble-Zone Protection online petition was posted by Lauren Crowley and Julie Edwards last week, as part of the launch of their new group, Feminists For Action Windsor.
The petition is calling for a 150-metre bubble zone — the maximum size a facility can apply for — at WRH.
"Within that zone, protestors are not permitted to display signage or encourage individuals to not seek abortion services," said Crowley. Their goal is for the petition to get 500 signatures.
As of Thursday, about 150 people have signed the petition.
Crowley said she's passionate about the topic because abortion is difficult for people to discuss even if they've experienced one.
"No person should have to walk out a procedure, which is as emotionally and physically trying as a pregnancy termination, to be faced with graphic signage," she said, and to see protesters who are there to judge them and inflict shame for their decisions about their bodies.
Lack of understanding by WRH, group says
Edwards, the group's co-founder, echoed those sentiments and said their concerns have been forwarded to WRH CEO David Musyj.
She said correspondence with the hospital has been "cordial" and "polite," but that there has been a "lack of understanding" on the hospital's part.
In an email to CBC News, Musyj said there have been "no issues that a 'bubble zone' would solve" — a stance the hospital first took in February 2018.
He added the matter will be revisited during an upcoming WRH board meeting, where he will present the petition to the membership.
'We are not there to harass'
Crowley and Edwards anticipate seeing protesters at the hospital regularly this spring.
The 40 Days for Life Windsor group holds a campaign in the spring and the fall.
Campaign coordinator Laurie Eberhardt says in Windsor, the group holds peaceful protest "vigils" outside the Metropolitan campus, and that the bubble zone legislation infringes on their freedom of speech.
She explained the protesters typically stand on the sidewalk bordering Tecumseh Road on either side of the street, carrying signs that say "Pray to end abortion." The group's signs do not include any images, she said.
"There is no harassing. There's no intimidation. We actually don't even know who's coming and going for an abortion," she said, and that the group doesn't approach anyone.
"We're simply there to pray and to hope that women will have a second thought and choose life for their child."
Beyond the 40-day campaigns, Eberhardt explained that people sometimes choose to protest on their own beyond the spring and fall campaigns.
Meanwhile, Crowley and Edwards say that beyond the petition, they plan on holding an information session in the spring, and they will continue to monitor the hospital's actions.
