N.S. abortion advocates urge calm in light of U.S. draft decision - Action News
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Nova Scotia

N.S. abortion advocates urge calm in light of U.S. draft decision

Though the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, abortion advocates in Nova Scotia say access in Canada is protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

'It's a red flag': Potential changes to abortion access in U.S. spark conversation north of the border

Demonstrators march following a rally in support of abortion rights near Pike Place Market on May 3, 2022, in Seattle. A leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito has suggested that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, a historic ruling that gives women in America the ability to legally have abortions. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Abortion advocates in Nova Scotia say that Canadians should be assured that regardless of what is happening south of the border, access to the procedure will always exist in this country.

That's despite warnings from some people in political circles who say that Canada might one day restrict access to abortions.

Bernadette Jordan, the former Liberal cabinet minister from South Shore-St. Margarets, took to Twitter Tuesday to warn her followers that abortion in Canada could someday be criminalized.

"Don't think for a second that it can't happen here," she tweeted.

Her tweet came after the Bloc Qubecoisfailed to get unanimous consent in the House of Commons to affirm a woman's right to choose.

Jordan also pointedto a bill tabled inthe House last June byConservative MP Cathay Wagantall. Wagantall wanted to ban any abortion based on the sex of a fetus. It failed, but82 Conservative MPsvoted in favour.

Former Liberal MP and cabinet minister Bernadette Jordan took to Twitter to warn followers that abortion access could be restricted in Canada. (CBC)

"To me, it's a red flag," Jordan said. "When you have anybody who says we're going to start looking at what a woman's right is in terms of her reproductive health."

'Never say never'

Halifax lawyer and abortion advocate Jennifer Taylor calls comments like that "inflammatory."

"Obviously we can never say never," she said. "But I think our first job as Canadians responding to bad news about abortion coming out of the States is to provide accurate information about how to access abortion in Canada."

She saidpolitical speculation about the future of abortion access in Canada "doesn't help connect people to the services that they need and are able to access today."

"Abortions are going to happen regardless of politics, regardless of the law, even. And, yes, we need to in some ways be prepared for the worst-case scenario," she said.

"But we also need to really trumpet and champion and promote the scenario that we have right now, which, while notperfect, is pretty good."

Access improving

A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court after the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision later this year, in Washington, May 3, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

If anything,JoannaErdman of Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law said access to and support forabortions is improving in Canada.

Erdman, who is the MacBainchair in health law and policy, said the anti-choice movement is being far outpaced by the pro-choice movement in this country.

She saidit's protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and was reaffirmed in 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country's abortion law as unconstitutional, calling it a profound interference with a woman's body.

"I think this is where abortion has moved from a political issue in this country one that different parties can negotiate. It's simply not that in people's lives anymore," said Erdman.

"It has been so part of people's lives for so long that it's just not considered a political issue in the way it once was."

The word "abortion" doesn't appear in the Charter, butErdmansaid Canada takes a very different approach to the constitutional text than the U.S.

"We tend to work with the doctrine of the living tree."