“Difficult day”, “setback for women’s rights”, “right violated”: the cancellation of the judgment Roe c. Wade Friday by the Supreme Court caused shock and indignation around the world, but also in Quebec.
Posted at 12:34 p.m.
Updated at 2:46 p.m.
What you need to know
- The United States Supreme Court has ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion.
- With the decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationthe court with a conservative majority overturned the judgment Roe v. wadea landmark 1973 case that guaranteed American women’s right to abortion.
- “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and none of its articles implicitly protects this right,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. “It is time to return the issue of abortion to the elected representatives of the people” in local parliaments.
- Following this reversal, states will therefore once again be allowed to prohibit or severely restrict abortion. A total of 26 states are expected to ban the practice.
“This is a difficult day for millions of American women who will no longer be protected by the constitution. Their right to choose will no longer be guaranteed,” drops Valérie Beaudoin, associate researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair.
This decision does not make pregnancy terminations illegal, but gives each state the freedom to authorize it or not. Many states, especially in the more conservative and religious south and center, could banish them in the more or less short term.
For Louise Langevin, a specialist in reproductive autonomy rights at Laval University, June 24 will undoubtedly mark “a setback for women’s rights”. “Poor women. We thought it was a given. It is very sad what is happening. We are in a difficult period, with the rise of the right everywhere. Fundamental rights are being eliminated. And it is the women who suffer first, of course, ”she denounces.
“That said, it will not reduce the number of abortions in the United States, believes the specialist. They will just be done differently. And the women who have the means will go to the States where it will remain allowed to have an abortion, ”reasoned Mme Langevin.
Nationwide impacts
Experts are especially concerned that “poorer, younger” or even racialized women are the most affected. “It is dramatic, because it is the women who are more disadvantaged, isolated and marginalized who will have to pay the price, because they will not necessarily have the means to go to another State to have an intervention” , said M.me Beaudouin.
“It won’t be white, educated women with money who will suffer the most, that’s for sure,” adds M.me Langevin.
In addition, we can expect a flood of people who want to have abortions in more progressive states, says Ms.me Beaudouin. “It’s going to be difficult, because it’s also going to restrict access for women in California, for example, because the demand is going to be much higher,” she said.
And here in Canada?
“There may be people who will come to Canada to have an abortion,” says Ms.me Beaudouin. This is the case mainly for the prairie provinces which are less surrounded by progressive states, she explains. She also believes that the issue of abortion will return to the political debate in Canada.
If we must certainly “remain vigilant” in Canada, the right to abortion remains “armored” on our side of the border, however assures Louise Langevin. “It does not change our law, which is very clear in Quebec and Canada on the subject. Our justice system is also very different. The Supreme Court in the United States is eminently political. And for Americans, the issue of abortion is much more divisive. The context is not at all the same,” she says, calling for “solidarity” with all these women.
The lawyer and general manager of the Juripop legal clinic, Ms.e Sophie Gagnon seconded all of these remarks. “The precedents are much more stable in Canada than they are in the United States. In the United States, they will seek to interpret the constitution with regard to the Founding Fathers. In Canada, the living tree theory that the Constitution evolves and adapts to mores is very entrenched,” she says.
Nevertheless, “the portrait is not rosy for all that”, recalls Me Gagnon. We are the country where the right to abortion is the most permissive legally speaking, but it is insufficient to guarantee access to all women who want it. In New Brunswick, there was even a lawsuit against the federal government to force the right to abortion, because in fact, the clinics are not accessible. In terms of access, there are still a lot of issues,” she argues.
If “Canada is safe for the moment”, the lawyer recalls that “the strength of the institutions depends on the confidence of the citizens, and the quality of the independence of the people who sit there”. “It is not a guarantee for the future. We can never take that for granted, especially with the weakened confidence in our institutions, including the justice system, ”she warns.
With Agence France-Presse