Ensuring abortions remain safe and legal here

The most influential court in the world has declared that women do not have control over their own bodies.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision which has secured constitutional protections for abortion for almost 50 years. This ruling furthers the disturbing legal trend of undermining women’s constitutional rights and restricting the provision of reproductive health care.

In several states, abortions will be highly restricted or completely inaccessible.

For many, the U.S. of today is a terrifying dystopian scene: a place where women are forced to birth children, compelled to receive caesarean sections, prosecuted for their miscarriages and shackled to beds during labour.

This criminalization — of women’s conduct, of abortion, of pregnancy — is largely framed as an American issue.

In fact, most believe the abortion controversy has long been settled in Canada. We are a country with ostensibly progressive reproductive politics, a country that often contrasts itself with the turmoil of the United States.

But the overturning of Roe reveals just how precarious these proclaimed rights and freedoms are.

When the 1988 R. v. Morgentaler ruling struck down section 251 of Canada’s Criminal Code, abortions were no longer regulated by criminal law. But this case did not make abortions a constitutionally protected right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In theory, a new bill could attempt to restrict abortions. In fact, conservative MPs have sought to introduce sex-selection abortion bans as recently as 2020. Although Bill C-233 was ultimately voted down in the House of Commons, roughly two-thirds of the Conservative caucus voted in its favour.

According to the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, 92 MPs have an anti-choice stance as of May 2022 — 87 of which are Conservative.

Alarmingly, Conservative politicians in Canada have begun discussing how to stack the Supreme Court of Canada in order to achieve their desired outcomes. Brian Jean, a former Conservative MP and current MLA in Alberta, recently said “we need to make sure that we have a Conservative prime minister that makes the right choices for the Supreme Court … so that we have people that align with our thoughts.”

But the burgeoning anti-choice stance isn’t the only thing that should worry Canadians.

Equitable access remains an issue. Across the country, abortion is supposed to be an insured, medically required service. It is a free procedure, even at private clinics.

But some are still forced to pay out of pocket — a human rights violation that directly contravenes the Canada Health Act. In fact, in 2020 and 2021, New Brunswick refused to cover the cost of abortion services if performed outside of a hospital setting. Further, access to abortion depends on one’s location. With most abortion services located 150 kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border, folks living in northern, remote or rural communities must travel farther — at greater personal expense — than those that live in southern, urban cities.

So what can we do to make sure abortions remain safe and legal in Canada?

■ Contact your local MP. If they’re anti-choice or their stance is undisclosed, reach out and demand they use their political power to protect women’s and gender minorities’ constitutional rights.

■ Volunteer or donate to a local prochoice group, abortion clinic or family-planning service.

Speak out. Use your social media platforms to inform others about reproductive justice. This is especially important if you have had an abortion. Together we can reduce the stigma by sharing our stories and describing abortion for what it is: an amoral and often life-saving medical procedure.

Although the Trudeau government has reaffirmed its commitment to the legality of abortion in Canada, the recent overturning of Roe demonstrates how law can be impacted by political shifts. If a country like the United States — one that supposedly values freedom — can overturn a fundamental right, then Canadians must ask: could we?

Conservative politicians in Canada have begun discussing how to stack the Supreme Court of Canada in order to achieve their desired outcomes