The respondent opened a free-standing abortion clinic in Nova Scotia.
In response, the provincial government enacted the Medical Services Act and regulations, which prohibited the performance of abortions outside of approved hospitals and denied medical insurance coverage for such services.
The respondent was charged with violating the Act and acquitted at trial on the basis that the legislation was ultra vires the province.
The Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the Crown's appeal, holding that the legislation was in pith and substance criminal law, which falls under the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the federal Parliament, as its primary purpose was to prohibit abortions outside hospitals as socially undesirable conduct.
