Reproductive Rights Are Not Negotiable
While an overwhelming majority of people in Canada support abortion care and reproductive health rights, recent events show that we can’t take these rights for granted. When the US overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, we saw an influential neighboring country deprive its citizens of the right to an abortion. In Canada, Conservatives have similarly tried to undermine abortion rights, unanimously supporting Bill C-311 which would have criminalized abortion care services. Multiple Conservative MPs attended the anti-choice ‘March for Life’ rally and have tabled anti-choice petitions in the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, the Liberals claim to support abortion rights but fail to uphold access. With the closing of Clinic 554, the city of Fredericton is without a single safe, trauma-informed abortion clinic. The right to an abortion is meaningless without access to it. The government must ensure all people in need of an abortion can receive one.
Expand Access to Safe Abortion Care and Contraceptives
While access to abortion care is essential to bodily autonomy, underfunding for clinics creates barriers to access, especially in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. The Women’s Health Clinic, the only trauma-informed abortion clinic in Manitoba has to turn away hundreds of people seeking abortions each year due to underfunding. We need to support care providers so nobody in need of an abortion is turned away.
Contraception access is also critical for protecting the right to choose. Recently, the NDP pushed for legislation that will provide access to free contraception for the 9 million people of reproductive age in Canada. The Liberals had to be forced to support this program, while the Conservatives voted against it.