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Ontario has banned protests outside abortion clinics, with the legislature having given final approval to a new “bubble zone” law Wednesday.

The vote was nearly unanimous, with only Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Jack MacLaren opposing the government bill. It received ceremonial assent from the lieutenant-governor late Wednesday afternoon.

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All three major parties at Queen’s Park supported the law, triggered by growing complaints from Ottawa’s Morgentaler Clinic on Bank Street that women and staff were being harassed by anti-abortion activists. The law creates 50-metre zones outside abortion clinics where pro-life protesters can’t set up; in Ottawa’s case, that covers all of Bank Street between Sparks and Queen streets. It also prohibits protesters from targeting the homes of clinic workers (including doctors, nurses and other staff), or the workers themselves.

Although existing laws covered assaults and intimidation, clinic operators in Ottawa and other cities have complained that without police stationed permanently nearby, charging protesters who cross the line has been too difficult.