in the days since the the united states supreme court reversed the landmark 1973 roe v. wade decision that established abortion as a right , questions are being raised about the implications for abortion policy in canada.
one protection against criminalizing abortion in canada is canadian federalism. criminal justice policy falls under the jurisdiction of the parliament of canada . in the united states, it’s under the jurisdiction of individual states.
at the moment, there is a consensus that this issue is settled , with no evidence to suggest that the leaders of the federal parties are interested in returning to a criminal justice approach. abortion is considered a medical service in canada, regulated by provincial and territorial governments.
even if restrictions on abortion were proposed by the governing party, there are two checks on such a scenario. first, the senate has blocked a previous attempt to recriminalize abortion under the brian mulroney government .
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second, the canadian judicial system protects against the shifts we’re seeing in the u.s. historically, the court has adopted liberal interpretations of the charter of rights and freedoms on issues such as medically assisted dying , same-sex marriage and safe injection sites .
in this regard, regulating abortion as a health issue has both advantages and disadvantages. the procedure is situated within a clear regulatory framework that potentially protects against restrictive policies . yet there remains no legal or legislative requirement to provide abortion services.
for example, abortion services were not available in prince edward island until 2017 . until 2015, some provinces would not fund out-of-province abortions . currently, inter-provincial abortions are restricted to those who can afford to travel .
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a recent study by the advocacy group action canada for sexual health and rights revealed the extent to which access to abortion is limited outside of urban centres .
medical abortions, also known as the abortion pill, could result in an expansion of access since they’re prescription-based . but they are limited to the first nine weeks of pregnancy and, like surgical abortions, they aren’t widely available .
access to abortion is also limited by information gaps and deliberate misinformation campaigns. for example, a recent report from university of british columbia researchers dorothy shaw and wendy norman noted that many people remain in the dark about abortion policy, including how to get one .
but conscientious objector policies that allow doctors to refuse services based on their personal beliefs can compromise this relationship .
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in this situation, people might seek information from crisis pregnancy centres, which offer pregnancy counselling services and prenatal care but often share misinformation aimed at limiting access to abortion . the action canada study found that there are more crisis pregnancy centres than abortion providers in canada.
several unsuccessful private members’ bills have been aimed at creating more restrictive legislation. in addition, the reluctance of courts to ensure rights to abortion and its status as a health issue have resulted in uneven access across the country.
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