While the right to legal abortion in the United States may be on the brink of exclusion, women and activists in Canada are following the heated debates in the United States and preparing for the possible consequences of this decision in Canada.
It appears that the Supreme Court justices will disqualify Roe v. Wade and that, of course, opens up Pandora’s box of ugly alternatives for women who want to end their pregnancy.said Dr. Fraser Fellows, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who performed abortions in London, Ont., Throughout her career.
For more than two years in the 1990s, anti-abortion activists showed up outside her home in an attempt to stop her from undergoing medical procedures.
Possible effects in Canada
Abortion remains one of the most controversial social issues in the United States. However, in Canada, nearly 80% of voters are for women’s free choice, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in 2017.
I hope our politicians are more in line with what the average Canadian wants in the context of providing abortion services, which is to ensure that we have legal and safe abortions for Canadian women.Dr. assured. Fellows.
Certainly the large population south of our border can influence political thinking and choices.He added.
This is exactly what Anna Marchand, president of the pro-life organization, said Right to Life in the London Areahoping to see that happen.
It gives me hope that politicians here are starting to think about when life will begin, and maybe that will influence the way they think about it.he says about the hot debate that is animating the United States.
This is a moral question. We don’t have a law here in Canada so it’s different. We need to talk to politicians, get the pro-life votehe explained.
Difficult access to abortion in certain regions of Canada
London has one of the largest abortion clinics in the country and local women have easy access to it.
Conversely, some women in Canada must travel long distances to access abortion, says Robyn Schwarz, an Ontario scholar and activist who researched access to abortion in Canada.
This access really depends on where you live in the country and the types of providers available in your community.he says.
The medical practice of Dr. Fellows have saved the lives of many women in this city, including Katie Dean, who had a medically necessary abortion and has since defended the pro-choice cause. .
She opposes pamphlets depicting a fetus which some anti-abortion activists are sporting and displayed on large placards outside London’s Health Sciences Center.
I have more confidence in the justice system in Canada and in our own politicians. We are more forward-thinking than the United States, in generalsaid Katie Dean. I think we will see people going to Canada for abortions from the United States, he added.
She said she had been contacted by a woman who wanted to offer a room in her home to any woman from the United States who wanted to go to London, in case she could not access abortion services in her own state.
Si Ms. Schwarz, however, thinks Canada should be careful about the erosion of women’s rights.
” By law, we are safe. But […] we’re experiencing a crisis in accessing health care at an unprecedented rate nationwide, and the problem with abortion is you can’t wait six months for a procedure. “
There are people today who are forced by this pandemic to bring pregnancies to the term they don’t want, because they can’t access care in their own communities, and that’s a problem.he says.
With information from Kate Dubinski of CBC News
Source: Radio-Canada
