Madam Minister responsible for the Status of Women, we have not all had the opportunity to meet you, but following an article published in The duty in which you claim to have the support of “several groups” in your approach to legislating to protect the right to abortion in Quebec, we, the representatives of national feminist groups and members of the Group of Thirteen (G13), wish you state our position on this issue.
For 35 years, the G13 has been at the forefront of implementing the objective you seek to achieve, namely to [protéger] women’s rights and the right to choose women”. We are a space for consultation and mobilization bringing together more than twenty national organizations and groups that work to defend the rights of women, girls and people from the 2SLGBTQIA + community across the province.
If you hadn’t canceled our scheduled meeting with you this week, you would know that the many feminist groups that make up the G13 strongly oppose any bill on abortion.
We join our voices today with those of the overwhelming majority of women’s groups and experts who have recently spoken out on the issue. Your plan to include an explicit mention of abortion in the law testifies to a real disconnect with the demands made by the main groups of women in Quebec for decades.
For the past two months, sexual and reproductive health rights groups have been sending you documents, expert opinions and letters explaining that a legislative mention of the right to abortion would be counterproductive. Because of the division of powers between the provincial and the federal, such an intervention would be of no use in protecting Quebecers against a possible attack on the right to abortion.
On the contrary, it could only make the situation worse by providing an opportunity for anti-choice groups to mobilize and by opening the door to possible legislative restrictions. In Canada, there are no legal restrictions on the right to abortion. This is something that we celebrate and that feminist groups and women’s groups want to keep.
Despite these explanations, you state that you are “exactly in the same place as when [vous avez] begin “. How can you protect women’s rights if you don’t listen to them?
We sincerely hope that you are still looking for “other paths stronger than a law” to guarantee the right to abortion. If you really want to guarantee women’s rights on this issue, we urge you to look into accessibility issues in the province.
Indeed, several obstacles still prevent some women and people wishing to end a pregnancy from actually having access to it. The Outaouais, Capitale-Nationale, Chaudière-Appalaches and Nunavik regions have only one resource to serve their population. Some clinics require four to six trips for an abortion. Too many clinics have three to five week wait times. For people without access to the RAMQ, sexual and reproductive health care, such as abortions, but also STBBI screening, medical-legal kits and pregnancy follow-ups, are inaccessible, because the exorbitant fees limit their availability. free choice and their bodily autonomy.
Among the concrete courses of action that we defend: combating misinformation about abortion and guaranteeing adequate and sustainable funding for pro-choice intervention groups such as SOS Grossesse and Grossesse-Secours are other solutions. that we have to offer you.
Quebec has a feminist movement rich in expertise. We’ll answer the call when you’re ready to hear from us.
*The Group of 13 is made up of the following organisations:
Alliance of 2 shelter housese stage for women and children who are victims of domestic violence
Feminist Association for Education and Social Action
Documentation center on adult education and the status of women
Intervention council for women’s access to work
Federation of associations of single-parent and blended families of Quebec
Quebec Women’s Federation
Federation of Women’s Shelters
Quebec Federation for Planned Births
Quebec Native Women
The R of Quebec Women’s Centers
Movement for autonomy in childbirth
Regrouping of shelters for women victims of domestic violence
Respected Births Group
Quebec Association of Centers for Assistance and the Fight against Sexual Assault
Relay-women
DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada
Action Network for the Equality of Immigrant and Racialized Women in Quebec
Quebec Lesbian Network / Sexually Diverse Women
Network of regional tables of women’s groups in Quebec
Quebec Action Network for Women’s Health
Round table of organizations serving refugees and immigrants