He instructed the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Marci Ien, to study the file rapidly
. The goal: ensure that, not just now, but under any other government in the future, women’s rights are well protected
.
We asked the ministers to look at it quickly, we will see what the timetable for their work will be
he replied when questioned by a journalist asking if Canadians could expect a result within a year.
The Prime Minister was reacting to the astonishing leak of a document which revealed on Monday that the Supreme Court of the United States could soon overturn Roe v. Wade, who has protected abortion rights federally since 1973.
” Our government will never back down in defending women’s rights here at home and around the world. »
How is the right to abortion protected in Canada?
The right to abortion is not protected by law in Canada, but by case law, more specifically by the R. c. Morgentaler made by the Supreme Court in 1988.
It all started with Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who was in the throes of the law because he performed abortions at his private clinic in Toronto. At the time, section 251 of the Criminal Code prohibited anyone from procure the abortion of a female person
in addition to prohibiting women from voluntarily terminating a pregnancy.
His case went to the Supreme Court, which ultimately concluded, by a majority of five judges to two, that section 251 clearly constitutes an attack on the physical and emotional integrity of a woman
. Forcing a woman, under threat of criminal sanction, to carry the fetus to term unless she meets certain criteria independent of her own priorities and aspirations is a profound interference with her body and therefore a breach of personal security.
Henry Morgentaler, Canadian physician and pro-choice activist
Photo: Radio-Canada
In doing so, abortion is decriminalized in Canada, but its practice and access are not enshrined in federal law.
It is rare, but not impossible, for the Canadian Supreme Court to reverse one of its decisions. For example, in 2015, his judges overturned his 1993 decision of Rodriguez v. British Columbia, in which she asserted that the ban on medical assistance in dying did not violate certain rights protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canadian attempts to limit the right to abortion
Unfortunately, we know from what we see among our neighbors to the south, but also from what we see in the debates within the Conservative Party of Canada, that we need to ensure that there are protections so that we never see this decline like in the United States
therefore explained Justin Trudeau on Wednesday morning.
Justin Trudeau was also referring to a Bloc motion proposed on Tuesday to recognize the free choice of women and refused by some MPs.
In the past, conservatives have tried to restrict the right to abortion. A bill introduced by the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1991 wanted to limit this right to women whose health was in danger because of pregnancy. It was refused by the Senate.
With the arrival of Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party in 2006, various bills directly or indirectly affecting the issue of abortion and the fetus were tabled. They have all been unsuccessful.
Unequal access to abortion across Canada
Another consequence of the fact that no federal law governs the right to abortion: its access is unequal across the country.
In New Brunswick, for example, the government of Blaine Higgs limits access to surgical abortion to three hospitals in the province: the two hospitals in Moncton and the hospital in Bathurst.
Further west, in Saskatchewan, pro-choice activists are decrying the wait times and lack of information regarding medical and surgical procedures surrounding abortion.
We are funding studies to look at the reality of access, which we know is not the same across the country.
said Justin Trudeau on Wednesday morning.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca