By legislating to protect the right to abortion in Quebec, the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, risks doing more harm than good: she could “open the door to possible limitations to this right”, warns the Barreau du Québec.
“The risks outweigh the benefits of a law or legislative addition to reaffirm the right to abortion,” the Bar Association wrote in Duty, who questioned him on the matter. Her warnings echo those of experts on feminist issues.
In April, the Minister responsible for the Status of Women announced her intention to legislate to “sacralize” the right to abortion in Quebec. According to our information, Mr.me Biron wants to include the right to abortion in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Over the past few weeks, she has undertaken a series of meetings with lawyers, women’s groups and health organizations. Among them, the Barreau du Québec.
Solicited by The dutythe professional order sent its comments on M’s project.me Biron. It raises several red flags.
“Any new legislation or legislative amendment to reaffirm the right to abortion by name involves risks, the main one being to open the door to possible limitations to this right”, wrote the spokesperson for the Bar, Martine Meilleur. , in an email.
“Indeed, as is the case in several jurisdictions elsewhere in the world, the right to abortion, once enshrined in law, could be limited, for example, [au] first trimester of pregnancy or by applying restrictions, conditions or constraints for so-called “late” abortions”, illustrated Mr.me Best.
The Bar also recalled that the right to abortion is recognized by Quebec legislation and Canadian legislation. “Thus, the current state of the law adequately protects the right of women to choose abortion and there is not, contrary to some popular beliefs, a ‘legal vacuum’ on this subject”, he underlined. .
The Minister says she is supported
In an interview, the minister said she was “not surprised” by the comments of the Bar, whose representatives she met. “I heard them. But, also, there are many groups that have no reservations,” she said. ” They tell me : “go”, please protect women’s rights and the right to choose women. »
Mme Biron would not say who, women’s groups or groups in the fields of law and health, supports his project. “For the moment, it remains confidential because I have not finished my meetings,” she said.
She said she was “exactly in the same place as when [elle a] began” its steps in April. But she also assured that her decision was not “finished”, without wanting to specify the avenues she is considering. “My goal is to protect women’s rights,” she insisted.
Last year, the Canadian prime minister also considered a legislative offensive to force the provinces to guarantee access to abortion. Justin Trudeau has faced a lot of criticism and hasn’t taken any steps to legislate since.
If it ain’t broken…
Louise Langevin, full professor at the Faculty of Law of Laval University, and Véronique Pronovost, doctoral student in sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), are among the people with whom Minister Biron discussed her intentions.
“Me, I’m still waiting for an answer to know what it will bring us, in addition to a question of principle and symbolism. No one is able to answer that question,” said Mr.me Pronovost at Duty.
Like her colleague from UQAM, Mme Langevin has serious reservations about Minister Biron’s project. “As the English say: why repair if it isn’t broken? she asks.
“The rights of women, everywhere on the planet, are in regression, says Professor Langevin, as we approach the first anniversary of the invalidation of the decree Roe v. wade, the historic judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States which paved the way for the prohibition of abortion. “If we open the debate and we collect ourselves with less [de droits]you imagine ? [Vaut mieux privilégier] the precautionary principle”, insists the expert on the right to reproductive autonomy of women.
Véronique Pronovost submits the recent example of a Christian gathering deemed anti-abortion, which was to take place at the Quebec City Convention Center. The cancellation of this event by the Legault government earned him a formal notice from the promoter of the “Rally fire, faith and freedom”.
“When we come to politicize the issue of abortion, when we bring it into the political arena, it becomes a conflict,” she says. If this conflict were to be brought before the courts, the risks of drift would be real, even in defeat, judge Mme Pronovost.
“It’s not enough to say: ‘Ah, they lost in court, so it doesn’t matter, nothing will happen.’ No, no, be careful: the movement has succeeded in mobilizing”, says the one who observes a “tingling” of the anti-abortion movement since the invalidation of Roe v. wade.
Louise Langevin serves the same kind of warning. “I have been saying it for 35 years: women’s rights are never acquired. It’s as if it were not rights, but rather privileges that we grant and that we can remove when we feel like it, ”she observes. In the context, it is better not to “wake the sleeping bear”, she believes.