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“When they walk out of their school and are blindsided by graphic images and unwanted presentation — that, I think, is where we need to draw the line.”

A guidance councillor at Crescent Heights High School said a number of students at her school are particularly vulnerable to being disturbed by graphic imagery because of past experiences of violence and abuse, or as a result of experiences they survived in conflict zones where they lived before coming to Calgary.

“The signs and shouting are definitely disruptive to students,” she said. “When protesters come, it’s literally right outside our front door and it’s usually around lunch time.

“(Students) go for their lunch with their friends down on Centre Street and that’s what they see . . . We spend the afternoon trying to regulate them. Some of them shout at the protesters, some of them hide in the bathroom; some of them, we’ve just got to call parents and say, ‘they’re not feeling safe here today so we need to get them home’.”

Somewhat similar provincial legislation already exists creating safe-access zones around Alberta’s abortion clinics. Safe-access laws also exist in B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario. Alberta’s former health minister had previously suggested the NDP government would amend legislation to prevent such protests around K-12 schools — though no such law was passed before the NDP was voted out of office.