Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, Ontario on April 28, 2022, during the Yom HaShoah commemoration. After a leaked draft ruling suggested that the US Supreme Court is about to strike down a landmark decision on abortion, Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland affirmed their support for women's right to choose after a leaked draft ruling showed that the US Supreme Court is poised to strike down a landmark decision legalizing abortion.
The Bloc Quebecois, a federal political party, moved a motion in Canada's Parliament Tuesday to recognize a woman's free choice in the matter of abortion. Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland said she was shocked and deeply troubled by the ruling and said her government has a clear and determined commitment to protect a woman's right to choose.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet that they're going to never back down from protecting and promoting women's rights in Canada and around the world.
Candice Bergen, interim leader of the opposition Conservatives, who is in the process of choosing a new leader, said no of the party's members would comment on the leaked draft. Bergen said the Conservatives won't introduce legislation or reopen the abortion debate. She accused Trudeau of using abortion as a wedge and said if there were a vote, Conservatives could vote freely.
In 1988, Canada's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion. Since then, abortion has been a medical procedure like any other. Canada's top court is unlikely to recriminalize abortion anytime soon but if the US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, that could embolden anti-abortion movements and galvanize abortion activists, Canadian observers and advocates for and against abortion, according to Reuters.
Judy Rebick, who has been fighting for abortion access in Canada since doctor Henry Morgentaler defied the ban in the 1980 s, said the US ruling, which is not due until June, will definitely give juice to the anti-abortion forces.
There's an uphill battle for abortion opponents in Canada, where activists built community support decades ago, Rebick said. You have a huge pro-choice majority that has mobilized time and time again. Jack Fonseca, director of political operations for the Anti-Abortion Campaign Life Coalition, predicted a pro-life blossom if the US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, with people looking to make changes south of the border in Canada.
While Canadian abortion opponents wait for an anti-abortion political sea change, Fonseca said his group may push for interim measures such as a delisting of abortion from health services provinces cover.
Political scientist Emmett Macfarlane said that Canada is unlikely to see a similar rollback of abortion access on a national level, as the top court is less partisan and polarized than the US Supreme Court.
Who does this mobilize and what I'm watching for is what I'm watching for. Does this mobilize the Anti-choice movement in Canada, and are the pro-choice majority complacent? Or does it raise the hackles of the pro-choice majority? Carolyn Egan's phone was ringing Tuesday morning with outraged people wanting to do something, said the longtime abortion activist and organizer with the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics.