Canadian prochoice slogans:

1
Canada The Civilized Outlaw

• Canadian pro-choice slogans
• Keep Your Laws Off My Body!
• This Uterus Is Not Government Property!
• Free Abortion on Demand!
• No New Law!

2
Abortion law history

• Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau passed liberalized
  abortion law in 1969.
• Committee of doctors approved hospital abortions
  if womans life or health in danger.
• Resulted in poor and unequal access for women,
  arbitrary obstacles, and delays.
• 1968 to 1988 Dr. Henry Morgentaler performed
  illegal abortions, opened clinics, arrested many
  times.
• He was acquitted by juries four times, but a
  judge sentenced him to jail anyway.

3
Supreme Court ruling

• Jan. 28, 1988 Supreme Court of Canada repealed
  the abortion law.
• The Court said abortion is a constitutional right
  based on womens
• security of the person
• right to life
• personal liberty
• freedom of conscience
• Court did not cite womens right to equality,
  but later court decisions on abortion did.

4
Access improves

• With no legal restrictions
• Abortion services are managed under the Canada
  Health Act.
• Abortion is medically required and funded.
• Abortion services are less isolated from
  mainstream medicine.
• Many doctors integrate abortion into their
  general practice.
• Many new abortion clinics over 35 of abortions
  now done in clinics.
• High public support for abortion rights.

5
Abortion availability

• In 1988, Canadian Medical Association recommended
  abortion on request up to 20 weeks after
  conception.
• Today, abortions on request performed to 22 weeks
  LMP (last menstrual period).
• Abortions available to 24 weeks LMP for genetic
  abnormalities, desperate social circumstances,
  and to protect maternal health.
• Abortions available after 24 weeks LMP for lethal
  genetic abnormalities, and for compelling
  maternal health reasons.

6
Abortion statistics

• 106,400 abortions in 2001
• 15.6 abortions per 1000 women (15-44)
• 32 abortions per 100 live births
• 90 by 12 weeks gestation, 98 by 16 weeks
• About 30 of all Canadian women have at least one
  abortion in her lifetime
• About 75 of all women use contraception (not
  counting abstinence)
• Maternal mortality rate of 0.01, probably lowest
  in the world

7
Still some problems

• About 80 of hospitals dont perform abortions.
• Several private abortion clinics still not fully
  funded.
• Anti-abortion harassment and violence
• Anti-abortion misinformation and counselling
  centres
• Some hospitals have
• long waiting lists
• requirement for doctor referrals or approvals
• quotas or gestational limits
• anti-abortion staff who misinform or judge

8
Judicial protections

• Womens equality guaranteed under Canadas
  constitution.
• Canadian courts have consistently protected
  womens right to abortion.
• Many court cases by anti-choice protesters have
  failed to give rights to fetuses.
• Fetuses are not legal persons until they
  completely exit from birth canal, alive.
• Male partners cannot force a woman to have a baby.

9
The trouble with laws

• Restrictions against abortion are leftover
  artifacts from the days of criminal abortion.
• They institutionalize the stigma of abortion.
• They stop abortion from being fully integrated
  into the healthcare system.
• They breed hypocrisy and disrespect for the law.
• Laws against abortion are fundamentally unjust
• They reduce access in various ways
• They violate the human rights of women

10
Laws restrict access by

• Creating arbitrary obstacles and delays
• Marginalizing abortion services
• Isolating abortion providers outside the medical
  mainstream
• Shifting focus away from basic healthcare
• Disrespecting professional medical judgment made
  in the patients best interests
• Threatening health workers with prosecution
• Making abortion a political target for
  legislators, anti-abortion lobbyists, and
  extremists

11
Laws hurt women by

• Violating womens equality rights, because only
  women can get pregnant
• Affecting disadvantaged women the most
• Rejecting women's moral reasoning
• Distrusting women to make their own decisions
  about their lives
• Protecting fetuses instead of pregnant women
• Punishing women for having sex for pleasure
• Punishing women for shirking motherhood

12
Patriarchal assumptions

• Motherhood is a womans highest calling.
• All women should be (and want to be) mothers.
• Women must sacrifice themselves to raise kids.
• Women must endure the discomfort and pain of
  pregnancy and childbirth without complaint.
• Women who have abortions are bad or victims.
• Women are irresponsible - or too emotional. They
  need direction and guidance like children.
• Women who have abortions suffer psychologically
  (at least they should).
• To protect women, we must restrict abortion.

13
Outdated traditions

• Laws against abortion rely on tradition
• Pro-natalism and preference for birth over
  abortion.
• Right to have babies is unquestioned and
  unrestricted, but abortion is frowned upon.
• Children are treated like possessions of parents,
  instead of individuals with rights.
• Church, God, and Bible are anti-abortion.
• But Why?!

14
Solutions?

• Guarantee womens equality in constitution.
• Lobby government against abortion laws.
• Collect evidence of laws harms, inform
  politicians. Find plaintiffs, challenge laws in
  court.
• Empower women in society (change public
  policies).
• Change patriarchal attitudes about women and
  motherhood (write, publish, speak).
• Change rhetoric Abortion is a moral and positive
  choice. It liberates women, saves lives, and
  protects families. Abortion is not a necessary
  evil.
• Prioritize childcare and child-rearing as a
  universal concern, not a womans issue.