TK Pritchard expects to be flooded with emails in the coming days about what the United States election results mean for the future of abortion access across Canada.
Following the re-election of Donald Trump as president, Quebec politicians and some organizations protecting the right for women to receive an abortion in Canada say they’re wary about the future of women’s right to choose north of the border.
“How do we ensure that folks in Canada have access? What does this mean for our care?” said Pritchard, who is the executive director at the National Abortion Federation of Canada.
“There are very real impacts and concerns.”
On Wednesday, Québec Solidaire, the second opposition party in Quebec’s legislature, introduced a motion reiterating the consensus in Quebec in favour of abortion rights — asking all federal political parties to commit to actively protecting women’s rights, including the right to abortion. It passed unanimously.
“It’s a rude awakening this morning: the United States will be governed by a man who campaigned against women’s right to abortion,” said Québec Solidaire MNA and critic for the status of women, Ruba Ghazal, in an emailed release.
The party’s leader, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, says Quebecers “are not immune” to the “rise of authoritarian politics.”
The U.S. presidential election was decisive and here in Quebec, reaction to Trump’s win is also split.
“I think a lot of Quebecers are troubled by yesterday’s results even if of course we recognize and respect them,” said Nadeau-Dubois.
“Quebec is not an island.… We are influenced by what is happening around us. We are seeing in Quebec and in Canada the rise of a new generation of discourses that are opposed to the right of women to choose.”
Right to choose has been settled in Quebec, says Legault
Martine Biron, Quebec’s minister responsible for the status of women, said the situation in Quebec is not the same as it is in the United States.
And Premier François Legault said the right to choose is something the Coalition Avenir Québec will “never go back on.”
“It’s worrisome to see what’s happened in the United States … for me it’s an issue that’s been settled for a long time in Quebec,” said Legault.
Jess Legault, co-ordinator at the Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances, says she’ll allow herself to be discouraged for the day. But then she will “rally.”
“There is this knowledge that whatever extreme misogynist positions or racist positions that are prevalent in the discourse in the United States does tend to affect political and social discourse here in Canada and in Quebec,” she said.
Abortion care in Canada ‘pretty fragile’: advocate
Pritchard says the situation in the U.S. can “fuel” anti-choice movements in Canada.
They think these election results could spur more conversations about how to cement the right to abortion care across Canada.
“We are deeply politically and socially influenced by what happens in the U.S.,” said Pritchard.
In Canada, abortion is protected by Supreme Court rulings and through the Canada Health Act. Pritchard says the events unfolding in the U.S. are an example why the vast majority of abortion advocates in Canada do not want to see a law in Canada governing or protecting abortion.
“It actually opens it up to significantly more legal and political attacks. You’re also pulling something that is health care out of health-care regulations and putting it into the legal and political field for really no reason,” said Pritchard.
“It technically should have the same access and protections as any other form of care.”
But Pritchard pointed to existing barriers to abortion in Canada and says their organization sometimes has to send patients to the U.S. due to an absence of clinics and other resources in some provinces.
“Our abortion care system in Canada is actually pretty fragile and it’s reliant on key individuals and communities who provide abortions,” they said, which can leave gaps when those doctors are sick or on vacation.
“There’s always a concern of having folks cross the border. What does that mean within a country that’s not supportive of abortion?”
