Abortion of American patients | Canadian doctors fear possible lawsuits

However, the possibility seems unlikely, according to experts.

Audrey Pilon Topkara
The Press

Could US states prosecute Canadian doctors who perform abortions on US patients visiting the country? Here’s a question of concern to the Canadian Medical Protective Association in the wake of the reversal of the ruling Roe v. wade in the USA.

A not-for-profit organization that provides legal defense services to more than 100,000 doctors, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) released a letter last week in which it shared with the federal government its fears of lawsuits in the USA.

However, this eventuality seems unlikely, say experts interviewed by The Press.

The reversal of the judgment Roe v. wade by the United States Supreme Court revokes the constitutional right to abortion of American women. Last fall, some states like Texas even enacted laws that allow citizens to sue doctors who perform abortions in their jurisdiction.

Caroline Fredrickson, a professor at the Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, does not believe that such lawsuits can extend to Canada. The trained jurist and US Supreme Court expert cites legal and diplomatic reasons.

“It would be very difficult, because there are a lot of things that are allowed in Canada that are not allowed in the United States, and vice versa. »

But since “the American courts are in the pocket of the right”, nothing is impossible, adds Caroline Fredrickson.

“I’m sure the Canadian government would never agree to extradite doctors to the United States,” she tempers.

“Jurisdiction problem”

Same story with Mugambi Toy, assistant professor at the Faculty of Law of McGill University and specialist in the evolution of American society.

“In terms of criminal law, I think a US state would run into a jurisdictional problem trying to criminally prosecute a Canadian doctor for performing an abortion in Canada, since that’s not a crime here,” he specifies.

According to Caroline Fredrickson, the only plausible scenario in which a Canadian doctor could be prosecuted is if they traveled to a conservative US state to perform an abortion. Again, such a situation, as unlikely as it is, would cause an international scandal, she underlines.

As for the likelihood of a state passing legislation allowing the prosecution of doctors who performed abortions in Canada on American women, Ms.^me Fredrickson does not believe that the United States Supreme Court is ready to trigger a diplomatic crisis with Ottawa by validating such initiatives.

No interstate prosecutions

So far, no American doctor has been prosecuted for performing an abortion in another state.

That didn’t stop New York State, which was anticipating the reversal of the ruling. Roe v. wadeto adopt in September 2021 laws aimed at strengthening the legal protection of health professionals who expose themselves to lawsuits from conservative states.

“Before even thinking about suing a Canadian doctor, it is already complex to prosecute a doctor in another state,” notes Andréanne Bissonnette, researcher in residence at the Observatory on the United States of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair in strategic and diplomatic.

The anti-abortion movement rather shows a desire to restrict voluntary termination of pregnancy in other states, adds the doctoral student in political science at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

“Yes, American women can come to Canada to have an abortion, but there are a lot more women who move from one state to another, because it’s closer to home and they don’t don’t need a passport,” she notes.

Travel restrictions

Currently, it is not possible for a US state to prohibit its citizens from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion or other medical procedure.

Nevertheless, the debate over the adoption of laws aimed at restricting interstate travel for abortions was notably launched in Missouri by Republican Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman, following the opening of an abortion clinic Planned Parenthood in Illinois, near the Missouri border.

However, the enactment of laws aimed at restricting the movements of women risks failing the test of the courts since several fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of movement, would be at stake.