Cancellation of abortion rights in the United States: Canada to the rescue?

Volunteer Kristin Hady is proud of what makes up the mandatory uniform of all her accomplices at the abortion clinic in Toledo. He himself has been wearing it for almost ten years.

The loudspeakers allow us to drown out the cries of the anti-abortion protesters and the umbrellas, to hide the patients. This is an incredibly effective combohe explained, smiling.

The choreography was repeated at each appointment: the patient hurried out of his car, his head bowed, protected by the small pink army to reach the main door.

After years of struggle to ensure abortion rights in a large hostile state, volunteers prefer to view these barriers as a challenge. You need to understand that there are always attacks on the right to abortion hereexplained Kristin Hady. We are still in survive mode.

The area’s anti-abortion group recently purchased the vacant parking lot opposite the clinic, which is also trying to get its hands on it. But it was the highest bid that won; the group took the small lot for $ 35,000.

Do you see the van there?, asked Kristin Hardy, pointing to the parking lot. It was plastered with pictures of babies and pregnant women. A message there indicates that women deserve love and support, not abortion. He was still there, and had a camera inside. They wrote down plaque numbers to register patients. And this is nothing against the law.

In Ohio, the possible reversal of Roe v. No one surprised Wade: access to abortion is already an act, according to pro-choice activists. The state, led by a majority of Republicans in both the House of Representatives and Senate, regularly passes laws restricting this right.

The problem with working in the field is there is always something wrongsummarizes Kristin Hardy. Why organize demonstrations? There are so many issues that irritate us, like choosing a buffet of horrible things.

Two scenarios await in Ohio the day after a possible Supreme Court change: abortion could be banned after six weeks of pregnancy or actually illegal. At the Toledo clinic, preparations are already being made to move patients to Michigan, the neighboring state.

This is not a perfect solution. We should also keep in mind that States where abortion remain legal will have many requirements. We will need to strengthen our relationship with clinics across the country and find drivers, plane tickets, train tickets … and fund it all.explains Kristin Hardy, who is also a member of an action fund for abortion.

States of safe haven

In Michigan, a judge issued a preliminary injunction in mid -May that would block the application of an abortion ban if the Supreme Court decides in this direction.

The American Midwestern state can accept secret travelers from around the country to abort. A risk -free solution for women or those who help them.

Movement Mother Justicerepresenting African-American mothers, is preparing to receive these patients. We will do everything to help themassured by the founder, Danielle Atkinson. But we must not forget that it may be easier for those who are privileged, who have the resources and money. You know, as a woman of color, our rights are always intimidating.

The organization has been fighting for ten years for the advancement of the living conditions of black women. We work on many topics, one of which is child carehe said laughing. You see, so we are with my two little ones. They are out of school for a week. I had no choice but to take them to work.

In front of his office window, the founder showed his son the Detroit River, which separates his country from Canada. You see, from here we see Windsor, it’s in Canadahe said to the little one. We want to help American women go there to end their pregnancies, she said, continuing the interview. But need a passport, car, network … For poor and marginalized women, it’s inaccessible, Danielle Atkinson believes.

For them, I think all the methods that women used in abortion in the 1950s will be options again.dropped the founder, his eyes focused on his son cleverly ending the drawing.

Canada: the solution?

In early May, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government assured American women who wanted to wave their passports to have an abortion that they would be welcome. For American Midwest residents who can afford to cross the border, the city of Windsor may be the easiest gateway.

As a woman, I am happy that we can help other women close to uslaunched Franco-Ontarian activist in the region, Kyla Bardwell. But what they need to know is that abortion is not accessible here.

Several times a year, her pressure group shows up near the regional hospital, the only place within 100 kilometers where it is possible to terminate a pregnancy. The wait is long and, in addition, sometimes there are anti-abortion activists around. If we are really a pro-choice country, let’s first make sure that abortion is really accessible anywhereinsisted the maiden.

It takes another four hours to drive to find a city with more than one abortion clinic, Toronto. Sherri Krieger, of the Provincial Coalition of Abortion Clinics, who has been fighting since 1987, works there.

We can accept Americans have no other options, we are preparing for it. But access to Canada is also not good… Proof: most of the women I saw at the clinic today were not from Toronto. They are from Sault-Ste-Marie, North Bay, Thunder Bay, anywhere in factactivist complained.

Due to the release of Supreme Court documents, the coalition of which Sherri Krieger is a part has been in regular contact with its partners in the United States to adopt a common approach, which they have always feared to do.

We know that one day or another, with all the conservatives in the Supreme Court, it will come. Now this is our realityshe whispered as she burst into tears. It’s so painful, it’s really horrible that men hate women so much.

Pro-choice activists in Canada have come to the conclusion that they have no silver bullet to offer to their southern neighbors. But they feel a moral obligation to them. In the 1970s, it was the Americans who accepted us to have abortionsrecalls Sherri Krieger, seeing it as a dark return of the pendulum.

The opposite is true now. Really sad. Sometimes I look at the calendar and realize that 2022 is over. How is this possible?