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March 27, 1998
Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh
Ministry of Attorney General
Room 232, Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C.
V8V 1X4
Dear Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh:
We are writing to express our grave concern regarding letters sent out by two anti-choice groups to B.C.'s health care providers over the last month.
As you are aware, Kelowna Right to Life sent a letter in late February to health care providers in the Okanagan region, asking them to inform on their colleagues who perform abortions or refer for abortions.
Now, another letter has been sent to doctors throughout BC, including the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and northern regions. This letter was sent by a group called PRICE (Concerned Nurses for Patients Rights Informed Consent Ethics), and is signed by *-----* a registered nurse who is a prominent anti-choice activist, *----* she engages in regular protests against the clinic. A copy of her letter is attached.
Both these letters are very similar in wording to a sample letter put out by an American anti-choice group, Life Dynamics. This group appears to espouse violence against abortion providers through its initiatives under the deceptive name "Project Choice." In fact, --- included a Life Dynamics brochure in her letter that reports on a misleading survey of American abortion providers that Life Dynamics carried out under their "Project Choice" banner. The survey results are being used to discourage doctors from performing abortions.
As a group that undertakes pro-choice political and educational work around the abortion issue, and which handles media representation for the Everywoman's Health Centre and Elizabeth Bagshaw Women's Clinic, the BCCAC is very distressed by this obvious intrusion into doctor's privacy.
(THIS SECTION SEVERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE BC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT)
In our opinion, both the Kelowna Right to Life letter and the PRICE letter are violations of the Access to Abortion Services Act. This Act prohibits the distribution of anti-choice literature "in protest of issues related to abortion services" within 50 metres of facilities that provide abortions, and within 10 metres of doctors' offices that provide abortions. Since these letters were distributed directly to doctors' offices by mail, we believe the letters fall into the category of prohibited activities under the Act.
Sincerely,
-Name Severed-
BC Coalition for Abortion Clinics
cc: -Name Severed-, Vancouver Police Dept.