Bill 163 explained in plain English
Protecting a Woman's Right to Access Abortion Services Act, 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill creates the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017, which establishes protected zones around abortion service providers and facilities, and amends privacy laws related to abortion services.
This bill enacts the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017 and makes changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017 aims to protect access to abortion services by establishing "access zones" around clinics, facilities, and the residences of people who provide abortion services. Within these zones, certain activities intended to dissuade people from accessing or providing abortion services are prohibited. The bill also creates enforcement mechanisms, including offences, rights to damages, and injunctions. The changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act modify how information related to abortion services is handled, creating a narrower restriction on its disclosure.
- Enacts the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017.
- Establishes "access zones" around abortion clinics, facilities, and residences of protected service providers.
- Prohibits specific activities within these access zones, such as persuading individuals to refrain from accessing abortion services, informing people about abortion services, performing acts of disapproval, persistent requests, and recording individuals, all for the purpose of dissuading access or provision of services.
- Prohibits certain activities anywhere to dissuade protected service providers from offering abortion services.
- Defines "clinic," "facility," and "protected service provider" in the context of abortion services.
- Amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to change how information related to abortion services is protected from disclosure.
- Repeals a previous restriction on the application of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to records about abortion services and replaces it with new conditions for non-application.
- Creates a right of action for damages for losses resulting from contraventions of the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017.
- Allows for injunctions to restrain contraventions of the Act.
- Grants police officers the power to arrest without a warrant under certain circumstances.
- Specifies penalties for offences under the Act, including fines and imprisonment.
- Allows the Attorney General to make regulations related to the Act.
- Individuals seeking to access abortion services.
- Individuals providing or assisting in the provision of abortion services (protected service providers).
- Owners or occupiers of clinics and facilities where abortion services are provided.
- Occupiers of residences of protected service providers.
- The general public, particularly in proximity to clinics, facilities, and residences of protected service providers.
- Law enforcement officers.
- Individuals have a right to seek damages if they suffer loss due to contraventions of the Act.
- Individuals have a right to seek an injunction to stop contraventions of the Act.
- The Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017 came into force on the day it received Royal Assent (October 25, 2017).
- The amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act also came into force on the day the Protecting a Woman’s Right to Access Abortion Services Act, 2017 received Royal Assent (October 25, 2017).
- Individuals who contravene the Act may be liable for fines of up to $5,000 for a first offence and between $1,000 and $10,000 for subsequent offences.
- Individuals who contravene the Act may be liable for imprisonment.
- Individuals who suffer loss due to contraventions have a right to sue for damages.
- Contravention of certain prohibitions can result in charges of an offence.
- Penalties for a first offence include a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
- Penalties for a second or subsequent offence include a fine of $1,000 to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
- Conviction for certain offences requires proof that the person knew or was given notice of the relevant access zone.
- A civil right to damages exists for those who suffer loss due to contraventions.
- Injunctions may be granted by the Superior Court of Justice to restrain contraventions.
- Police officers have the power to arrest without a warrant a person believed to have committed or be committing an offence under the Act.
- The specific distance for access zones around facilities may be prescribed by regulation.
- Further prohibited activities in access zones for clinics or facilities may be prescribed by regulation.
- Prescribed health professionals may be included as protected service providers.
- The boundaries of access zones for facilities may be prescribed differently than the standard property plus distance.
- The Attorney General may make regulations to define specific terms or details not fully outlined in the Act.
- The application of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to information relating to abortion services depends on whether the information identifies an individual or facility, or could reasonably be expected to threaten health, safety, or security, with further clarification for pharmacies.
This new Act establishes protected access zones around abortion clinics, facilities, and residences of protected service providers, and outlines prohibitions and enforcement measures related to these zones.
Source: Schedule 1
The bill amends this Act to change the conditions under which information related to the provision of abortion services is exempt from disclosure, introducing narrower restrictions.
Source: Schedule 2
An existing restriction on the application of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to records concerning abortion services is removed.
Source: Schedule 2, Section 1 (1)
New subsections are added to Section 65 to create new conditions for when the Act does not apply to information relating to the provision of abortion services.
Source: Schedule 2, Section 1 (2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced