‘Alarming’ Roe v. Wade draft ruling shows Canada must protect abortion access: minister

Minister of families, children, and social development says Canada is "not immune to the forces that want to limit or restrict a woman's right to access abortion services."

The U.S. Supreme Court draft ruling on overturning the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade demonstrates why Canada must continue to “stand up” to protect access to abortion, says one cabinet minister.

In an interview with The West Block guest host Eric Sorensen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said news that the U.S. Supreme Court appears set to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is “very alarming” and drives home the need to protect access in Canada.

“We’re not immune to the forces that want to limit or restrict a woman’s right to access abortion services in Canada,” said Gould. “We have to, first of all, stand up and protect it.”

However, she did not provide any specifics when pressed on what she’s going to do next to address the fact that abortion isn’t accessible everywhere in Canada.

A leaked initial majority draft opinion first reported on May 2 by Politico suggests the court has voted to overturn the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. The resulting outcry has seen Canadian leaders weighing in to advocate for abortion access, while facing questions about continued challenges facing access to abortion domestically.

Ontario, Canada’s most populated province, has the most abortion clinics in the country with 23, according to the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

Quebec has 12, Alberta and Manitoba have three, British Columbia has eight, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have five and the other provinces and territories have four or less abortion clinics.

“We need to be doing everything we can to ensure that if someone needs access to sexual and reproductive health services, it is available to them wherever they live in this country,” Gould said.