Anger, indignation, sadness: a rain of reactions swept in Canada after the reversal of the judgment Roe v. wadewhich guaranteed the right to abortion in the United States, with certain limits.
This decision is “really infuriating”, laments Kelly Day, an American who has lived in Montreal for a year, in an interview with The duty. “It’s depressing for all these American women to feel helpless,” laments the 44-year-old woman. To feel like they don’t have control over their health and their lives.”
The judgment made public on Friday allows US states to restrict or ban abortions within their borders as they see fit. “It’s a day of hindsight,” says Valérie Beaudoin, associate researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair. This takes the United States back to a “pre-1973 universe”, the year the decision was made Roe v. wade.
For Ms. Day, the reversal of the decision was “unfortunately foreseeable”, since the Supreme Court is now dominated by Republican judges. “It’s depressing not to be surprised,” breathes the student from Concordia University, originally from California.
The mother of three is worried about the fate of American women, especially for their mental health. “The act of removing options [aux femmes] will cause a lot of trauma,” says Kelly Day. The latter admits to feeling guilty for not being in the United States alongside her sisters, who feel “anger, frustration and sadness”.
A “medical tourism” for abortions?
Friday’s decision will mainly affect marginalized and poor women, underlines Valérie Beaudoin. The latter raises that some American women will have to travel and therefore pay more money to have an abortion.
Regarding the repercussions on Canadian soil, a form of “medical tourism for abortions” could emerge, believes the researcher.
For Jessica Legault, co-coordinator of the Quebec Federation for Planned Births (FQPN), the judgment rendered on Friday gives rise to “a disgusting situation”. When abortion is not legal and safe, “women suffer and die,” she says. “We are discouraged and worried for the Americans,” she laments.
Demonstrations will be held next Sunday at noon in front of Quebec courthouses and some city halls. Ms. Legault invites protesters to dress in black, “as a sign of mourning, solidarity and anger”. The goal is to prove “that we have a pro-choice movement on standby and in action against any obstacle that we could put to the right to abortion in Quebec,” she explained.
At the political level, Valérie Beaudoin points out that “when something happens in the United States, we ask ourselves questions in Canada”. The elected officials will be questioned to know “whether or not they are in favor of the choice of women”, she says.
Allow ‘no backing down’
On Twitter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has argued that “no government, no politician, or no man should dictate to a woman what she can or cannot do with her body.” “I want Canadian women to know that we will always stand up for your right to choose,” he said.
This is a “sad setback for women’s rights and freedoms”, tweeted Quebec Premier François Legault. The Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest, assured that in Quebec, “we will never allow” the right to abortion to be called into question.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Dominique Anglade, qualified Friday as a “dark day for women and their rights and freedoms”. “We must continue to fight so that our daughters always have more rights than us, not less,” she said on social networks.
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson, Manon Massé, denounced “a dangerous decision for American women”. The MNA also maintained that Quebec women were not all equal in terms of access to abortion. “Ultimately, we should also be able to offer these services to our American sisters who request them,” she said.
PQ MP Méganne Perry Mélançon deplored “an unimaginable setback for women, which could have consequences far beyond the borders of the United States”. “Quebec must never allow any backsliding,” she argued.
With Stéphanie Marin and The Canadian Press