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A new law restricting protesters from demonstrating outside Ontario’s abortion clinics will come into effect Feb. 1, 2018.

The “safe access zone” legislation, announced by Attorney General Yasir Naqvi in October, will create a 50-metre “bubble” zone around eight abortion clinics in the province — including The Morgentaler Clinic on Bank Street, which says it has faced years of intimidation and harassment from protesters holding graphic anti-abortion signs outside its building.

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The attorney general’s office confirmed it has sent letters to the clinics letting them know about the proclamation date. The homes of people who provide abortion services will also have 150-metre bubble zones around them. As of Feb. 1, other facilities, such as hospitals, will be able to apply for the zones.

The issue roused a heated debate in Ottawa over a protester’s right to free speech and a woman’s right to safely access health-care services. The city said the clinic demonstrators fell into a legal grey zone and that a “special events” bylaw restricting protesters across the street is meant to apply to larger events, not individuals.