One could wonder why the team of Canada’s main national sexual and reproductive health and rights organization would stay up way past our bedtimes to watch the results come in for last week’s referendum in Alberta. The link between fighting for abortion rights and Alberta separatism may seem tenuous at best.
The thing is, it is not.
For decades, our movement has fought to decriminalize abortion, open clinics, establish harassment-free zones, and defeat anti-choice bills in Parliament. That work continues, but the fight is also profoundly changing.
As an advocacy organization, one of Action Canada’s most important jobs is to connect dots, identify emerging trends and understand how political and social changes affect people’s ability to exercise their rights.
In doing so, we are faced with two persistent challenges. First, many Canadians believe the fight for abortion rights has already been won. Second, even among those who recognize the threat, there is a tendency to misunderstand what that fight looks like today.
We are looking for attacks on abortion rights in places where they used to happen, while some of the most consequential changes are taking place elsewhere... (Click here to read the full blog post).
Fred Chabot, Executive Director of Action Canada for Sexual Heath and Rights