Drafted in partnership with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights In the devastating wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in the United States, Canadians are wondering how we can protect abortion rights in Canada. Abortion is regulated differently in Canada. It is an insured health service and so, the Canada…
Category: Reproductive Rights
No Legislation: What we really need to do in Canada to improve abortion access
Why We Don’t Need A New Abortion Law In Canada Drafted in partnership with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe V. Wade, Canadians may be wondering how we can better protect our right to abortion in Canada. While introducing laws may seem like an appealing option,…
PRESS RELEASE: ROE v. WADE – An Important Reminder to all Canadians
For Immediate Release – Algonquin Anishinaabeg Territory/Ottawa, ON – The recently leaked draft majority decision of the United States Supreme Court reveals that the Court is poised to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. This is deeply concerning – for women in America, and indeed, here in Canada. In 1973, the US Supreme…
“Forced evacuation of pregnant Indigenous women must stop” Opinion by FLR/RDF law student Carolina Maass
Opinion published by Toronto Star on January 6, 2022. Read full article here. Pregnant Indigenous women are being forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to give birth alone and away from their communities. Health Canada has a birth evacuation policy that requires them to take planes, buses, boats, helicopters, taxis, or even snow machines two to four weeks before…
National feminist groups welcome long-awaited legal action on abortion access in New Brunswick
For Immediate Release A coalition of national feminist organizations welcomes the initiation of legal action by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to fight the discriminatory and anti-choice regulation that prohibits the funding of abortion care outside of hospital settings in New Brunswick. In October 2020, Clinic 554, the only free-standing clinic providing surgical abortions in…
Feminist groups call for immediate action on abortion access in New Brunswick
For Immediate Release A coalition of feminist organizations is calling for the federal government and the government of New Brunswick to take immediate action in light of the imminent closure of Clinic 554 in Fredericton. The Fredericton clinic, the only free-standing clinic providing surgical abortions in the province, is set to close by the end…
Assisted Human Reproduction Act Update
The NAWL Reproductive Technologies Working Group will be meeting in Montreal in early June 2007 to formulate NAWL’s position on the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which is due for review, likely after the next election. The Act reflects Canada’s position on an array of controversial bioethics issues relating to assisted reproduction such as embryo research,…
Braving the Backlash From the Hill
The current Conservative government of Canada insists that all women have full equality in our country, but as women we know this simply is not the case. With the 40% cut to Status of Women Canada, closure of 12 offices, abolition of the Court Challenges Program, and a removal of the word ‘equality’ as an…
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Women’s reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, are increasingly under attack in North America. In 2006, the South Dakota Legislature voted a law that would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless it was necessary to save a woman’s life. The law makes no exception for cases of rape or…
Women’s Reproductive Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights is an important human rights instrument, yet it contains a right to life provision. NAWL will not endorse ratification of the American Convention until we have the assurance that women’s reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, will be effectively guaranteed. NAWL wrote letters to the Ministers of Foreign…
Ratifying the American Convention on Human Rights: The Stakes for Women
This report was written for the Working Group on Abortion, Reproductive Health, and Women’s Citizenship in the Americas of the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL). Table of Contents Foreword & Acknowledgments Introduction The OAS and the Inter-American Human Rights System ACHR Ratification: Characteristics, Issues and Difficulties for Canada Abortion, Reproductive Health and…
Ratifying the American Convention on Human Rights: The Stakes for Women
Ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights
Ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights L’information d’organisation Presented to the Senate Committee on Human Rights. Available in French only. Présenté au Comité sénatorial permanent des droits de l’homme. L’Association nationale de la femme et du droit (ANFD) est très heureuse d’avoir la possibilité de témoigner devant le Comité sur les droits de…
Feminist Perspectives on the Draft Federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act
Cet article est disponible uniquement en anglais. In May 2001, former Health Minister Allan Rock publicized draft federal legislation on assisted human reproduction (AHR) (Health Canada documents on AHR, including the draft Act, can be found at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/biologics_genetics/reproduction/index.htm). The draft Act represents the culmination of a lengthy movement toward the regulation of reproductive technology in…
The National Association of Women and the Law Response to Bill C-47 and the Working Document on New Reproductive and Genetic Technologies: “Setting Boundaries, Enhancing Health”
While congratulating the government for taking action in this difficult and ever changing area, NAWL criticizes the broad use of the criminal law power especially when it impinges on women’s right to choose. As well as commenting on Bill C-47, NAWL also offers suggestions for improvement on government plans for a regulatory agency.…
Midwifery in Canada
A Response to Crimes Against the Foetus, the Law Reform Commission of Canada’s Working Paper #58
Takes issue with the Law Reform Commission’s proposal to create a crime of harm to or destruction of the foetus. Argues that the commission fails its own test for the criminalization of behaviour and that the commission displays little understanding of women’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.…