Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Hub Staff

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade and two Saugeen Shores residents are organizing a walk in Port Elgin on Saturday, July 2 in solidarity with those impacted by the decision.

"People all over the world are feeling the heaviness" of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States, reads a Facebook event page. "Bodily autonomy is a human right," the page adds.

"I know I'm not alone in this heaviness," said Amber Lyn who, along with Amanda Smart, is organizing Saturday's walk. "I needed to show my support for our neighbouring country and people all over the world who are mourning the loss of so many Americans' right to bodily autonomy," Lyn said.

"This is such a slippery slope and opens up a huge door to violating human rights in so many other ways," Lyn continued, adding that as Canadians we need to be aware of our own politics. "Many say, 'this will never happen here,' without realizing the anti-abortion organizations within our country," said Lyn.

Lack of access to safe and legal abortion care can affect cis women and girls as well as trans men and boys, non binary and intersex individuals and disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latinx communities as well as queer, disabled, and poor communities; all of whom already experience discrimination and adverse outcomes in health services when compared to their white, cis, abled and hetero privileged counterparts.

Co-organizer Amanda Smart said she is marching to send a message to those who are currently scared, angry, or already suffering from this decision in the United States. "We see you, we support you, and we are with you," said Smart.

Smart also wants this to serve as a wake up call to Canadians. "While abortion is still legal in Canada, many rural communities have inadequate access to reproductive health services, and many of our Members of Parliament are openly anti-choice," said Smart, who went on to say that US policies can influence our own, and thus, the overturning of Roe v. Wade needs to be taken seriously.

"Now is the time to stand up and remind the leaders of the world that we always have and always will, stand together," said Smart.

Anyone wishing to attend Saturday's Roe v. Wade Overturn Solidarity Walk are asked to gather at 11am at Coulter Parkette, Green and Goderich Street in Port Elgin. From there, the walk will head to the Port Elgin Main Beach before returning to Coulter Parkette.

Background:

Roe v. Wade was a legal case before the United States Supreme Court in the 1970s and on January 23, 1973, Justices ruled 7-2 that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion was unconstitutional and that criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a person's constitutional right to privacy.

On June 24, 2022, in the court's majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (WHO), a case involving Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision."

In a vote that largely reflected party lines, the court voted 5-4 to overturn Roe, and 6-3 in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson WHO.

Abortion Facts:

• Abortions are part of reproductive healthcare and criminalizing them does not prevent abortions, it prevents safe abortions.

• Providing comprehensive sex education as well as ensuring access to things like housing, food, clean drinking water, mental health services, and providing a living wage, reduces the number of abortions.

• People who access abortion services come from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.

Abortion Care in Canada:

A landmark decision in 1988 by the Supreme Court of Canada, R v. Morgentaler, held that a then abortion provision in the Criminal Code was unconstitutional and violated women's rights under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights (ACSHR) says that while that decision secured the right to legal abortion, barriers still exist that can make accessing an abortion in Canada difficult.

ACSHR posits that one of the main barriers include a number of commonly held abortion myths, including people having abortions for frivolous reasons; that abortions are common throughout all nine months of pregnancy; that those who have abortions are harmed psychologically; that abortions are dangerous; and that adoption is an equivalent alternative to abortion.

To see ACSHR's Abortion Myths and Facts, visit actioncanadashr.org/resources/sexual-health-info/hub/abortion-myths-and-facts.

The National Abortion Federation offers a political history of abortion care in Canada. To learn more, visit nafcanada.org/history-abortion-canada.

On their Abortion at a Glance page, ACSHR details abortion services in Canada as well as the difficulty some rural and remote areas face.

The number of provinces and territories without Safe Access Zone legislation still outnumber the ones with.

The page also offers provincial snapshots and explores what is still needed in Canada to ensure everyone has access to abortion care.

For more, visit actioncanadashr.org/resources/factsheets-guidelines/2019-09-19-access-glance-abortion-services-canada.

For information about sexual and reproductive health, including pregnancy options, and for referrals to clinics and hospitals that provide productive health services, including abortion, anywhere in Canada, call ACSHR's confidential toll-free information and referral line at 1-888-642-2725.