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The injunction doesn’t apply to Ottawa’s standalone abortion clinic, which wasn’t open at the time. The injunction should be turned into an Ontario-wide Access to Abortion Services Act that applies everywhere, Watson wrote.

“I am hoping that you will agree that the concerns that moved the Ontario government to action for the people of Toronto in 1994, are no less pressing than they are today, for the people of Ottawa,” the mayor wrote.

Though he agrees that “all women across Ontario should have access to safe health care services,” Naqvi replied in a statement, he isn’t sure about a new law.

“Over the past several weeks, my ministry has been working to determine what options are available to the province in order to ensure that harassment at the Morgentaler clinic, and clinics across the province does not continue. I will have more to say once I have determined the best course of action,” Naqvi wrote.

The legislature only has four sitting days left before it breaks until mid-September, so it’s all but impossible any law could be passed until autumn. In the meantime, the city could step up police enforcement or pass a bylaw creating a bubble zone of its own — but one with less legal force than one in provincial law.

Rick O’Connor, the city’s top lawyer, wrote in an assessment of city council’s options that although Ottawa could use municipal bylaws against clinic protesters, the punishment for a violation would be limited to fines and an order from a judge to lay off. It would take repeated incidents involving the same person before punishments escalated.