U.S. debate could 'normalize' anti-abortion ideas in Canada, warns Ontario expert

Advocates in an Ontario region where there's a vocal anti-abortion elected official say the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade controversy is a reminder to fight harder for better access to abortions in Canada.

"When major shifts like this happen in our southern neighbour, it always has an impact here," said Margot Francis, associate professor of women's and gender studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.

The city sits to the east of the provincial riding of Niagara West, where MPP Sam Oosterhoff, a Progressive Conservative, told an anti-abortion rally in Toronto in 2019 that he pledged to "to fight to make abortion unthinkable in our lifetime." 

While Francis said she thinks it would be difficult to see those changes in Canada, as it is a "deeply pro-choice country," discussions in the U.S. could embolden politicians like Oosterhoff, she said. 

"It normalizes the idea that women should not have autonomous decision-making over their bodies," Francis said, "and that women's suffering, in relation to making those choices, is actually OK."

A leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion was released last week, just as Ontario's election officially got underway, prompting the topic to enter into provincial political discussions almost immediately. 

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford pledged last Wednesday to maintain abortion access in the province, while the other three main parties said they would expand it if elected in June.

"I think a lot of people thought it was impossible, this would happen in the states, until [former U.S. president Donald] Trump was elected," Francis said. "We could think similarly [in Canada], that it's impossible, but I don't think it is." 

CBC Hamilton reached out to Oosterhoff for comment, but did not receive a response. He has not made any public comments on the issue recently. 

Tami Friedman, associate professor of history who's also at Brock University, said it's not just what politicians say, but also what kind of support exists behind them in a community. 

"The rally itself was very significant, but I think it's crucial to not lose sight of that larger base of support," Friedman said.

Francis agrees. 

"The fact that he got elected with those kinds of extreme opinions is, I think, more the issue — that he represents a large set of communities that would also work to obstruct women's ability to make choices about their own health care." 

Mo Constantine is well aware of the barriers in the Niagara Region to abortion services.