For What It’s Worth: Abortion is a non-issue in Canada

By Cash Moore on May 19, 2022.

Once again, abortion has become a major topic of political discussion across the country. After a document was leaked showing the U.S. Supreme Court was in favour of overturning Roe v Wade, commentators, politicians and advocacy groups have been sounding alarm bells that the same could happen in Canada.

Any worry about Canada restricting abortions is completely misguided. Canada’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on abortion, R v Morgentaler came in 1988. The criminalization of abortions was found by the court to violate Section 7 of the Charter; infringing on a woman’s right to life, liberty and security of person. Since the decision, there have been no criminal laws regulating abortion in this country.

Canada’s judicial and legislative systems are very different from our southern neighbours. Unlike the Americans, Canada’s Supreme Court is non-partisan and provinces cannot simply criminalize abortion as states can.

Beyond the protection of abortion rights by the court system, there is simply no political benefit for any government to implement restrictions on abortion. Unlike our American neighbours, Canadians are overwhelmingly pro-choice nationwide. In a recent poll, 73 per cent of Canadians believe women should be able to get an abortion “whatever the reason.” This is in contrast to Americans, where only 52 per cent are in favour of the previous question. Also unlike Americans, Canadians are fairly uniform in their opinion, regardless of province. In our current political climate, it would be political suicide for a government to make moves against abortion.

Only once has a government introduced a law attempting to criminalize abortion. In 1990, Mulroney’s government introduced Bill C-43 which would sentence doctors to two years in prison for performing an abortion when a woman’s health was not at risk. This bill was passed by the House but died in the Senate, and surely would have been struck down by the Courts had it passed.

In the 2019 Federal election, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer stated that his personal stance on abortion was that he was pro-life. Despite vowing to not change any policy on the issue, his personal stance has been cited by political analysts as a significant contributor to his electoral defeat. In the current Tory leadership race, only one candidate; Leslyn Lewis has proposed any changes to abortion law. The changes she proposes are tame relative to what’s happening in the States. She argues for the ban of sex-selective and coercive abortions while otherwise keeping the status quo.

Of course, there is concern by some that abortion is not accessible enough in this country. This however is no different from other medical procedures with limited access. This concern is more of a general health-care issue rather than an abortion-specific issue.

Abortions in this country are treated like any other form of health care. Removing the right to an abortion would be like removing the right for cancer treatment. It’s not going to happen because it is unconstitutional and not politically feasible. Canadians need to realize that we are a sovereign nation, with our own processes, ideals and culture. Just because something happens south of the border, does not mean we should expect the same here.

Cash Moore is a University of Alberta political science student from Medicine Hat