Pregnancy centers and anti-choice candidates, unfunded abortion clinics: if the political milieu has not invested as heavily as it has in the United States, the anti-abortion movement remains very present in Canada and Quebec. Overview of an ideology that works in the shadows but has some very real implications for the lives of Canadian women.

In New Brunswick, abortions are only paid for by the government if they are performed in a hospital. The policy, which is unique in the country, led to the closure of the last abortion clinic in the province in 2020, leaving women only to three hospitals for an abortion.

“In places in Canada where access to abortion has been restricted, this is partly due to the reluctance of certain elected officials or their anti-election opinions,” claims the Executive Director of the Coalition for right to abortion in Canada, Joyce Arthur.

Arriving in Vancouver, she doesn’t believe that abortion rights are threatened in Canada as they are in the United States a document leaked by the Politico media On Monday evening, the Supreme Court will present a draft decision overturning the verdict deer v. wade, which protects American women’s right to abortion. But according to M^me Arthur, the anti-abortion movement in Canada, “can do a lot of damage through stigma and misinformation, and create an atmosphere of silence around abortion.”

Although less radical than in the USA, this ideology also invites itself into politics. According to an October 2021 poll conducted by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, 74% of the faction of Conservative Party of Canada (CCP) is against abortion. And of the 159 members of the Liberal Party, five oppose the election or have expressed positions along those lines in the past.

The CCP leadership also sent a note to its lawmakers on Tuesday, urging them not to comment on the leak of the Supreme Court document while the party is in the midst of a leadership race. The only woman in the race among the six contenders is also Leslyn Lewis the only open anti-choice candidate. “In a way, it’s good that Conservatives are afraid to speak out on this issue, as it demonstrates the strength of our pro-choice policies,” Arthur said.

She still points to the involvement of certain anti-abortion groups in the leadership race, including one of the country’s largest, the Campaign Life Coalition, which offered Leslyn Lewis its support. M^me Arthur says these groups mobilize on behalf of anti-choice candidates and in return “expect them to take action. [pour restreindre le droit à l’avortement] “. She regrets that such groups would have contributed in particular to the electionAndrew Scher and D’Erin O’Toole Leader of the CPC, as well as that of Doug Ford as Premier of Ontario.

It should be noted that in the last election campaign the prime minister Justin Trudeau promised to regulate access to abortion services under Canada’s Public Health Act. A promise that has not been fulfilled to this day.

Quebec not left out

Last February, the head of Quebec Conservative Party, Eric Duhaimepresented an anti-abortion candidate For the next state elections, the D^right Roy Eappen. The latter said he didn’t want to legislate on the issue but wanted to talk to people to “change their minds”.

The anti-abortion movement in Quebec is also present in anti-choice pregnancy centers which, under neutral guise, discourage the women they consult from resorting to abortion. According to the Federation of Quebec for planning births, between 15 and 30 would be active in the territory.

In February, an Urbania investigation found that two CAQ MPs had funded such centers. The Minister for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest, then telephoned an “honest mistake” to justify this funding.

Proof, according to the director of the pro-choice organization Grossesse-Secours in Montreal, Josiane Robert, that “we are not immune to it”. For her, the battle is far from won: “We must continue to mention that abortion is a fundamental, legal and secure right.”

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