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." 

Limited abortion care in Niagara

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

Constantine is a volunteer with Niagara Reproductive Justice (NRJ), a group that helps provide access and support to people seeking abortion care. He said he and a small group formed the organization in 2019 after anti-abortion billboards started popping up around the area. 

"I had just moved here from the states in 2018 and was shocked by the amount of anti-abortion activity in Niagara," he said. "I had never personally seen anything like it in the states and wasn't expecting Canada to have so much anti-choice messaging. Now I know better."

He said the group started with advocacy work — "just trying to spread more accurate information about abortion and sexual health resources" — but now helps to provide more "hands-on practical support," such as helping to arrange transportation and financial assistance if needed. 

"Services for abortion in Niagara are extremely limited," Constantine said.

He said NRJ often suggests that people travel outside the region, to Hamilton and Toronto, to access abortion services. 

But limited access to services close to home are not the only barrier to women in Niagara seeking abortion care, as there are also facilities known as crisis pregnancy centres that some say are not what they seem.

"In terms of the Niagara Region, there's quite an active anti-choice community," Francis said, "including clinics that can masquerade as reproductive health clinics, but are actually clinics that are attempting to dissuade women from getting abortions."

Barriers to access in Ontario

Access issues aren't unique to Niagara, says Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, a charitable organization.

Regardless of who's elected, many regions in Canada have barriers to abortion access, including rural areas and smaller communities outside major cities.

I wasn't expecting Canada to have so much anti-choice messaging. Now I know better.— Mo Constantine, Niagara Repoductive Justice 

In the Niagara Region, there are almost no known surgical or medical abortion providers, said Libby Schofield, a Hamilton-based communications officer with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights.

"This creates huge barriers for women, as well as non-binary and trans people who might need abortion care, who may have trouble organizing transportation, child care and time off work."

Abortion care costs are also not covered for people without Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage, meaning costs for some would need to be paid out of pocket, she said. 

In addition to working with local groups like NRJ, Action Canada said its Access Line and Norma Scarborough Emergency Fund are available to provide information and financial support for care.

In 2019, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights said, 38 hospitals and clinics in Ontario were providing abortions, while there were 78 crisis pregnancy centres in operation. 

"They pose as non-judgmental, pregnancy option medical clinics, when in fact they are religiously affiliated anti-abortion agencies," Constantine said of the crisis centres.

He said it can be "extremely harmful" for anyone searching online to find abortion care in Niagara to come across a clinic that isn't what they think it is.

A silver lining 

Constantine said he hopes the silver lining of these challenging discussions in the United States will reinvigorate people to protect abortion rights in Canada.

The first step in working to challenge the narrative surrounding anti-abortion actions locally is to speak up, he said.

"There are actually not very many people who are behind the anti-abortion movement here, but they are really loud and they're really well funded through churches...

"So we need to be better about countering those anti-abortion narratives, and making sure that anybody who wants an abortion can access one for free and easily."