In Canada, the anti-abortion troops are crying “victory”. The reversal of Roe v. Wade in the United States will, they hope, reinvigorate the movement at home. But it remains marginal, believes an expert.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
As soon as announced, the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, who defended the right to abortion in the United States, was applauded by anti-abortion organizations in Canada.
The Campaign Life Coalition, one of the most influential organizations in anti-abortion circles in Canada, called it a “victory of life,” celebrating “the pro-abortion movement’s loosening of the iron grip on America.”
Above all, the long-awaited decision has galvanized the hopes of anti-abortion activists in Canada.
“It’s a day of celebration around the world,” responded Hanna Kepka, head of intergovernmental relations for the Campaign Life Coalition, in a telephone interview.
This decision inspires the entire pro-life community, and in Canada as well.
Hanna Kepka, Campaign Life Coalition
In Canada, the anti-abortion movement is marginal, underlines however Louise Langevin, specialist in the rights to procreative autonomy of Laval University. And it is even more so in Quebec. But we must not let our guard down. Elsewhere in the country, “they are more active”. “They look organized,” she says.
On Saturday, Campagne Québec-Vie organized a “pro-life pilgrimage” in the streets of Montreal.
“We are more motivated by this decision. It gives a surplus of hope, ”reacted the president and general manager of the association, Georges Buscemi.
He does not expect to see “a cavalry” of anti-abortion activists land in the short term, and especially not in Quebec, where the right to abortion is very well protected and recognized. “But there will be a long-term effect, at least cultural and then legal,” he believes.
“Nothing is ever won”
The vast majority of Canadians support the right to abortion. According to a recent Léger poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies, approximately 14% are opposed to it.
Women, women’s groups must monitor what is happening. Nothing is ever gained for women, to control them, even if, on the legal level, the question is settled.
Louise Langevin, specialist in reproductive autonomy rights at Laval University
To put pressure, could anti-abortion activists protest in front of abortion clinics, as they do in the United States?
No, because in Quebec, a law adopted in 2016 prohibits demonstrations within a perimeter of 50 meters around abortion clinics. Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador have also passed similar laws.
“They cannot directly approach the women who go there to change their minds,” explains Louise Langevin.
Even if the anti-abortion movement were to take more space and invest the political debate, our legal context is totally different from that of the United States, recalls Ms.e Sophie Gagnon, lawyer and director of Juripop.
The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, for example, “is much less politicized and partisan in Canada,” she adds.
An arrow to the conservatives
In an interview, Georges Buscemi, of the Quebec-Life Campaign, shot an arrow at the elected Conservatives, who “seem to be afraid of getting wet with these questions”. “I find this attitude of hypersensitivity and fear completely unsustainable,” he says.
The anti-abortion campaigner, however, hailed party leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis, who reacted “unapologetically” to the overthrow of Roe v. Wade. On Twitter, she opposed “forced abortions” and “gender-based”.
“Canada is not the United States. We can have adult conversations,” she wrote.