A spokesman for the anti-abortion group, the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, is not apologizing if some Windsor residents were offended by a flyer that was delivered to their homes recently.
Western Outreach Director Cameron Cote admitted the flyer was graphic but defended their door-to-door delivery.
"There's been a lot of different pro-life outreach objectives over the past years, and we've found we've had tremendous success in changing people's minds about abortion by presenting it this way," said Cote, days after BlackburnNews.com published a story about the call for a municipal ban on home delivery of gruesome flyers.
Lauren Crowley raised the concern women who have suffered miscarriages, have terminated their pregnancies for any reason, or have trouble conceiving may be re-traumatized by viewing the images. She was also worried young children might see the pictures.
"We recognize that these images can have a profound emotional impact on many people," Cote said. "We work really hard to make sure that these postcards are delivered in a way that the homeowners do receive them."
The flyer was folded on delivery, and the images are hidden until the pamphlet is opened.
As for children picking up the mail for their parents and seeing the pictures, Cote repeated his team makes every attempt to ensure homeowners receive the flyer. When pressed about exposure to children, he responded, "if my children did see these images, then I would have a very age-appropriate conversation with them."
Calgary has passed a municipal bylaw banning the delivery of anti-abortion flyers that show dissected fetuses. Other communities across the country have at least discussed the possibility.
Although Crowley emailed Mayor Drew Dilkens and members of city council, it has not come up in discussion at the municipal level in Windsor as of yet.
"Our team members ensure that we follow all of the relevant laws and bylaws locally, provincially, and nationally so that we're not doing anything illegal," said Cote.