An Abortion-Rights Campaign Tale of Two Countries

"I think it's fantastic. I don't think it's ever happened before -- I've never seen that kind of strategy before and I'm just so glad to see it, because it's so inappropriate for these anti-choice Members of Parliament to be going to these marches [anti-abortion protests], and often many of them are speaking at them as well."
Joyce Arthur, executive director Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

"While these Conservative MPs have been busy working to roll back women's rights, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal team are focused on making real progress for women and all Canadians."
"Chip in now to support Justin Trudeau and the Liberal team to help earn another mandate [federal general election] this fall."
Liberal party fundraiser

"We very much regret what is happening, particularly in the United States, where they are moving backwards in terms of defending a woman's right to choose."
"[In Canada, Conservatives are ramping up their efforts at] taking away rights that have been hard-fought over many, many years by generations of women and male allies."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

"This is the same government that didn't hold New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island to account over their lack of [abortion] access and is now saying, 'How dare Andrew Scheer allow his MPs to attend a march'?"
"It's a bad look to go to an anti-choice rally, absolutely. But it's also a bad look to call yourself a pro-choice government and not fill these gaps that are really easy to fix and are having a huge impact on people's lives by not being addressed."
Julie Lalonde, women's rights advocate, Ottawa 

Students protest an anti-abortion demonstration outside Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown Wednesday. (Laura Meader/CBC)

As far as Julie Lalonde is concerned it would make a whole lot more sense for the Liberals who are, after all, the government still, to have created a more equitable access system in reflection of Canadian reproductive justice for women, rather than hypocritically make use of the abortion issue to pose themselves as uniquely fit to represent women's rights as opposed to the antediluvian attitude of their political rivals in the House of Commons.

After all, it wasn't all that long ago that Parliament was led by first a minority then a majority Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper who stated unequivocally that he and his government had no intention whatever of revisiting Canada's access-to-abortion law, then or in the future. Moreover, the new leader of the party, Andrew Scheer, made his own frequent statements on the subject, pretty well echoing that of his predecessor.

What gave life to the issue was a recent anti-abortion rally that took place a week ago on Parliament Hill at which a dozen Conservative Members of Parliament out of 99 Conservative MPs in the House of Commons, attending in support of the rally. The Liberals now hope to target those 12 Conservative ridings to unseat the incumbents in the upcoming October general election on the basis of their bias against abortion as opposed to the Liberals' full support of abortion on demand.

Seven of the Republican-led states in the U.S. have issued bills restricting abortion rights. It seems clear that this represents a set-back to a woman's 'right to choose' movement in the U.S. And it is likely to lead to a concerted challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court giving women a constitutional right to end an unwanted pregnancy. New legislation in Alabama makes abortion illegal at every stage of a pregnancy. And unless a woman's life is at risk, abortion would be denied in instances of rape or incest.

Doctors defying the ban could face prosecution and up to 99 years in prison should a conviction hold; this is the Alabama version of withholding abortion rights to its female residents who despite having an abortion would not themselves be held criminally liable. Emboldened by a Republican presidency, 16 states took steps to curb abortion rights through legislation; four passing laws banning abortion once an embryonic heartbeat is detected.

The American Civil Liberties Union stands prepared to file a lawsuit "to stop this unconstitutional ban and protect every woman's right to make her own choice about her health care". "Today is a dark day for women in Alabama. This is the most egregious attack on access to safe and legal abortions since Roe, and we will fight back", warned Staci Fox, president of Planned Parenthood South-east.

They will have plenty of time to prepare for a standoff, since it's unlikely the case will be heard before 2020 by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the interim, it will provide contentious fodder as a key issue in the upcoming presidential election.

Bianca Cameron-Schwiesow, left, Kari Crowe, middle, and Margeaux Hardline, dressed as handmaids, take part in a protest against HB314, the abortion ban bill, last month at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala. (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser/AP)