Saskatoon councillor pushes for rules on graphic anti-abortion flyers

At the beginning of August, a pro-life group known as the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform handed out flyers with graphic abortion images to residents of Saskatoon. The flyers caused huge debate among citizens, sparking rallies from both sides and an online petition.

The petition, made by the Saskatoon Abortion Support Network, states these images were displayed in public spaces and placed in mailboxes with no envelopes or content warning.

Following an outpouring of different reactions from residents, Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois brought the matter to city council, calling for city officials to take a closer look at how pamphlets or flyers are distributed in Saskatoon.

“I received many complaints about this pamphlet, but I want to be clear, my motion is not about these specific pamphlets, it’s just about the by-laws and the policies that the city has,” shared Dubois. “I did a little bit of research and other municipalities have looked into pamphlet distribution to residents in their municipalities and they’ve made some by-law changes.” 

Global News reached out to the group handing out the flyers. They say they stand by their decision to hand them out.

“If we’re concerned with children seeing images like these, shouldn’t we be concerned with children becoming the images in these photos?” questions Quiana Casamayor, Western Volunteer Coordinator for the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform.

Angie Kells with the Saskatoon Abortion Support Network says she heard many concerns about the negative impacts of the flyers.

“Children reported feeling very scared, having nightmares, crying. Pregnant women, people who have experienced loss, people living with PTSD, have reported feeling deeply distressed and traumatized,” Kells explained.

This is not the first time this conversation has come up, as other Canadian cities have aimed to put limits on how materials like this can be shared and delivered. For example, Calgary requires flyers with graphic content to be sealed in an opaque envelope, with both a content warning and sender information.

Here in Saskatoon, Dubois’ motion passed, with the councillor telling Global News she hopes it will give citizens peace of mind.

“I think they’re going to be happy that it’s going to go through and that we’ll get a report, and we’ll see if there’s any changes that can be made.”