A city in Ontario, Canada, has relented and agreed to run anti-abortion ads on its buses sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform (CCBR), setting a precedent for other cities that have rejected the ad.
The City of Peterborough changed its stance on the issue on Feb. 21, the eve of a constitutional challenge in court, according to LifeSite News.
Despite this, the CCBR still sought a judicial declaration that Peterborough had violated its charter rights to speech and expression.
"The City of Peterborough violated our charter rights pure and simple," said CCBR's law director Nicholas McLeod.
McLeod said CCBR applied to put its ad on 12 municipal transit authorities showing three circles containing photos of foetuses with the words "Growing," "Growing," and "Gone."
All cities refused to run the ad and the CCBR challenged several of the cities. The suit against Peterborough was the first that would be taken up the court.
Peterborough earlier rejected the ad, saying it would "promote an issue which is divisive or controversial" and it would make it appear that the city was "taking a position on matters which have, or appear to have a moral, religious or ethical component."
However, CCBR lawyer Carol Crosson said "everybody benefits when freedom of expression and speech is defended. Without it democracy cannot grow."
The pro-life group wanted a court ruling to establish the principle for CCBR's other bus cases.
"It will help in the future," Crosson said, even though the ruling could only be enforced in one Ontario area. "Every case is different," she said.
In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Greater Vancouver case that public buses were "protected ground" in Charter freedoms of speech and expression, and bus authorities could not ban political ads because of their content.
CCBR completed a nationwide campaign called #no2trudeau in which nearly 1,000,000 postcards were distributed showing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau next to an aborted 10-week baby.
