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Just because it’s happening down there, don’t for a minute think that Canada is immune from these types of rollbacks. Every year we hear individual Conservative politicians raise the issue of abortion and push to get it on the national agenda. Under Erin O’Toole’s leadership, 81 Conservative MPs, the majority of their caucus, voted to reopen the debate on a women’s right to choose.
by Larry Brown, President
Ottawa (06 May 2022) — I can’t tell you how angry I am. I read the leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. There was wide speculation that this was where SCOTUS was headed, but I was hoping beyond hope that good sense would prevail. Unfortunately, it looks like I Was wrong — the only faint hope now is that the outcry will force the Court to revise the draft decision.
This is devastating news for every woman and girl living south of our border.
Feeling emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6–3 conservative majority, U.S. state legislatures have been enacting laws, including a record number of new laws that limited human and civil rights. Conservative-led legislatures have focused on restricting voting access, enacting discriminatory policies against LGBTQ individuals — transgender youth in particular. They have put in place measure to limit abortions, particularly through bans early in pregnancy and restrictions on medical abortion.
As of December 31, 2021, 108 abortion restrictions had been enacted in 19 states. This is the highest total in any year since abortion rights were affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.
Just because it’s happening down there, don’t for a minute think that Canada is immune from these types of rollbacks. Every year we hear individual Conservative politicians raise the issue and push to get it on the national agenda. Under Erin O’Toole’s leadership, 81 Conservative MPs, the majority of their caucus, voted to reopen the debate on a women’s right to choose.
There are strong, well-funded organizations in Canada that spent millions of dollars pressuring politicians to defund health services provided to women. Campaign Life, for example, is a constant driving force to elect people who are anti-abortion. And not only does the group oppose legislative policy that protects public access to women’s reproductive services in Canada, but it also forcefully lobbies to stop Canada from supporting reproductive rights around the world. Losing this funding means a world of difference for women in countries that already have major restrictions to women’s health, including abortions.
In Canada, prior to 1988, the Criminal Code banned abortion unless a committee of doctors (usually male doctors) approved the procedure. Even the decision in R v Morgentaler didn't enshrine abortion rights in the country, it challenged only a part of the Criminal Code that violated Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees the right to life, liberty and the security of the person. New language was never introduced, so R v Morgentaler stands as Canada's top abortion rights case.
And while this means that women and girls can access abortion services without prosecution, it is still not an option for many across the country. Women and girls who reside in small towns, rural communities, who are poor, or who don’t have the support cannot access services the same way as those living in bigger cities. There is often a lack of medical professionals willing to perform the procedure, and stigma remains a major problem when privacy cannot be maintained. So, while on paper, Canada protects abortion rights, in practice we are still failing.
Let’s be clear: we are not immune to the movements rising to take away the human rights we have fought so hard to get. We just have to look the insurrection that took place in Washingtont that was fueled by the organizing of neo-Nazis, militia organizations and other right-wing elements. Those sorts of organizations have spilled over and ignited fires in Canada, as well. The convoy occupations are perfect examples of that organizing. This movement is not about disagreeing with vaccination polcies, it’s about disrupting communities, instilling fear and aggression and threatening rights we all value. This pressure hasn’t, and will not, stop, unless we do something.
Women and girls, half the population, will lose the right to control their own bodies. If that basic human right is dispensable, then what rights are safe from attack? Religious freedom? Gay rights? Transgender rights? What would be the limit on government intervention into our lives? The answer is, there would be none.