A Toronto councillor wants to change how anti-abortion materials can be shared

A Toronto city councillor is seeking to regulate how some graphic imagery can be distributed publicly after her constituents and their children were exposed to "disturbing" anti-abortion flyers.

Councillor Dianne Saxe will put forth a motion seconded by Councillor Paula Fletcher at Wednesday's council meeting seeking a draft bylaw from city staff regulating the "unsolicited delivery of graphic images" to residences.

The proposed bylaw would make it so that "graphic image(s) or photograph(s) purporting to show a fetus" must include the name and address of the person who sent the material. It would require the contents to be inside of an envelope with a warning clearly stated on the outside.

"We have been receiving complaints from a number of constituents about these graphic flyers that have been put in their mailboxes, in their homes," Saxe told CTV News Toronto Monday. "They're not enclosed in anything so the children can see it."

The regulation of graphic images, "both door-to-door delivery and in the public right of way, is something that City Council has asked for on multiple occasions," Fletcher said in a statement to CTV News Toronto. Similiar motions were passed in December 2019, June 2018 and June 2022.

"The motion going to Council this week provides clear direction, a definitive framework, and a concrete timeline. It removes the need for staff to develop their own by-law and recommends adoption of a by-law in line with London, Ontario's," Fletcher said. "This should ensure that this request is finally fulfilled."

The move to restrict the content is about consent, Saxe said.

"People don't get a choice, whether or not to be exposed to these disturbing images in their homes, and they feel quite strongly that it interferes with their rights of privacy and self-determination."

If passed, the bylaw would also protect the fundamental freedom of expression, she argues.

"They're being allowed to distribute their information, but people have a choice whether or not they want to look," Saxe said.

University of Toronto professor of philosophy Wayne Sumner echoed Saxe's sentiments in an interview with CTV News Toronto.

He says he's a staunch supporter of freedom of expression, "but the point here isn't to prohibit the circulation; it's to restrict the way they're being disseminated."

There are two ways freedom of expression can be legally limited within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Sumner explained – by content restriction, for example, the outlawing of hate speech, or by time and/or circumstance restrictions, which is not a blanket ban, but instead places limits on how citizens can express themselves.

He says Saxe's motion is a "standard" example of the second.

"It's entirely reasonable," Sumner said, adding the controversial nature of the imagery warrants the move.

"As far as I can see, the point of the motion is to make sure people are consenting," he said. "I don't see it as at all problematic from a freedom of expression standpoint."

Sumner, who published a 260-page book on the intersection of abortion and moral theory while at Princeton University, said these kinds of promotional materials, sent in the name of activism, often feature misinformation.

"The most common misinformation about abortion themselves is usually on when they typically occur," he said.

"Often, images of developed fetuses are used in these kinds of materials, but that happens very late in pregnancy, but most happen in the first trimester."

Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that of abortions performed in hospitals in 2020, over 80 per cent were performed in the first trimester.

"Fetuses don't look anything like that in the first trimester," Sumner said. "The harms of this misinformation are inflicted on women seeking abortions, by making them social subjects of criticism or if these – let's face it, these are campaigns to prohibit abortions – campaigns are successful, by legislation."

"The harm is palpable."

In May 2022, the City of London, Ont. passed a bylaw prohibiting the circulation of graphic anti-abortion imagery. Now, Saxe said, it's time for Toronto to follow suit.

"That's one of the great things about municipalities; we love to learn from each other."