Abortion is the premature ending of a pregnancy. Inducing an abortion was a crime in Canada until 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law as unconstitutional. Since then, abortion has been legal at any stage in a woman’s pregnancy. Abortion is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the Canada Health Act. (See Health Policy.)
Crime of Abortion and the 1969 Amendment
Prior to 1969, inducing abortion was a crime under Section 251 of the Criminal Code. The maximum penalty for a doctor, or anyone else assisting a woman to end her pregnancy, was life imprisonment. If the woman herself was convicted, the penalty was two years.
One famous abortion case occurred in 1879. It involved Emily Stowe. She was the second Canadian woman to be licensed to practice medicine. Stowe was charged with performing an abortion on a young patient; through the administration of drugs. She was eventually acquitted after a long and high-profile trial. The prosecution of Stowe illustrated how seriously authorities viewed the crime of abortion in the late 19th century. By the mid-20th century, official attitudes had changed, and the abortion law was rarely enforced against doctors.
In 1969, the government of Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau amended the Criminal Code. Doctors were allowed to perform abortions in accredited hospitals if a pregnancy threatened the health or life of a woman. A committee of doctors was required to approve the procedure. In all other circumstances, abortion remained illegal.
Rights of Women versus Rights of the Unborn
Today and in the past, abortion has been a subject of serious debate based on ethics and philosophy. Pro-life advocates condemn it, while pro-choice advocates view it as a private matter and state not to be involved. Through the 1970s and 1980s, both pro-life groups (seeking a stricter abortion law) and pro-choice groups (seeking the legalization of abortion and public funding for it) organized large public rallies. These included demonstrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
In 1967, amid the earliest days of this debate, the Royal Commission on the Status of Women was convened by the federal government. After two years of public hearings, it issued an astonishing report on women’s issues. The report recommended that abortion be made legal for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It said that after 12 weeks, abortions should only be legal if the pregnancy threatened the health of the woman; or if the expected child would be born “greatly handicapped” mentally or physically.
Henry Morgentaler was prosecuted for performing unauthorized abortions. He was acquitted by a jury in 1973. However, on appeal, both the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the jury finding. Morgentaler served a prison term.
The Supreme Court also found that the defence of necessity was theoretically available; that is, doctors might not be held criminally responsible if the result of not performing a particular abortion would be worse than doing nothing. Because of the circumstances of his case, such a defence was not specifically available for Morgentaler.
During this period, much of the legal debate focused around the question of whether a fetus has a right to life independent of its mother; and whether a woman’s liberty includes a right to choose to end a pregnancy. Legal challenges were brought by Joseph Borowski, a former Manitoba legislator, on behalf of fetal rights; as well as by Morgentaler in defence of his prosecution. The rights questions were not substantively settled by the courts in these cases.
Demonstration after Henry Morgentaler’s 1975 acquittal
On June 9 1975, Dr. Henry Morgentaler was acquitted of having broken the criminal code in performing abortions
(courtesy Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec/Flickr)
1988 Supreme Court Decision
In the 1980s, Morgentaler was prosecuted again for providing abortions. In 1988, his case R. v Morgentaler went to the Supreme Court. It evaluated his actions this time in relation to the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court found that the Criminal Code provision on abortion violated a woman’s right to “life, liberty and security of the person” guaranteed under Section 7 of the Charter. Chief Justice Brian Dickson wrote: “Forcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction to carry a foetus [sic] to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations, is a profound interference with a woman’s body and thus a violation of her security of the person.”
Specifically, the court did not say there was an inherent right to abortion under the Charter. Rather, it said the system regulating access to abortions — particularly the hospital review committees that were meant to approve abortion requests — had so many barriers and operated so poorly that it was “manifestly unfair.” As a result, the abortion law was struck down. The law technically remains in the Criminal Code; but it is considered unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. Because no other law has replaced it, abortion has remained legal throughout Canada since 1988.
Meanwhile, the fetal rights issue was ultimately decided in the 1989 case Tremblay v Daigle. The Supreme Court found that only a person had constitutional rights, and that such rights began at the time of live birth. The Court also decided that the father of a fetus has no proprietary interest in a fetus; he may not obtain an injunction to prevent a woman from exercising her right of choice to have an abortion.
Supreme Court and Parliament
The statue Justicia in front of the Supreme Court of Canada building, overlooking the Peace Tower of Parliament in Ottawa.
In 1990, the House of Commons voted in favour (140–131) of a new law. Introduced by the Progressive Conservative government of Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney, it sought to criminalize abortion once again. The new law would have allowed the procedure — under a streamlined review process — only if a doctor determined that a woman’s health was threatened by her pregnancy. However, the bill died in the Senate in January 1991 and never became law.
Other Canadian courts have also reviewed various attempts by provinces and municipalities to restrict the right of pregnant women to obtain abortions. All such legal attempts failed.
Access to Abortion Services
In the wake of the 1988 Supreme Court ruling, abortion became a publicly-funded medical service. It was available in many hospitals; as well as in private clinics, such as those established by Morgentaler in major urban centers. However, services are not uniformly available across the country. This is particularly true in rural areas and in parts of Atlantic Canada.
In Canada, the provinces administer public medical services. (SeeDistribution of Powers.) With this power, some provincial governments have tried to ban private abortion clinics; or refused to fully fund them out of the public purse. In 1993, Morgentaler challenged the Nova Scotia Medical Services Act all the way to the Supreme Court. It struck down the provincial law banning abortion clinics in that province. Also in the 1990s, the governments of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador were penalized under the federal government’s Canada Health Act for allowing private billing at provincial abortion clinics. After the penalties, the provinces agreed to fully fund the clinics.
In New Brunswick, private abortion clinics have been unable to obtain public funding. This makes access to the procedure more difficult there. In Prince Edward Island, no abortion services were available at all as of 2016. However, PEI women seeking publicly-funded abortions can obtain them in nearby New Brunswick hospitals.
Henry Morgentaler
Abortion doctor and activist Henry Morgentaler, pictured in 2012.
(Wikimedia Commons via Rabble.ca)
Recent Political Response
Since the 1988 ruling, abortion has continued to be a hot-button political issue. Opinion surveys consistently show Canadians divided on the matter. In 2010, an EKOS/Globe and Mail survey found that a slim majority of Canadians, 52 per cent, were pro-choice; 27 per cent were pro-life. The remaining 21 per cent would not affiliate with either camp.
As a result, federal political parties and governments since 1990 have generally avoided abortion as a topic of parliamentary debate. They prefer to let the Supreme Court have the last word on the subject; rather than enact new legislation that could either formalize the existing system, or change it in some way. Several individual members of Parliament have introduced private members bills in recent decades — on both sides of the abortion debate. None have made it through the House of Commons and therefore have not become law.
The abortion issue received arguably its highest profile in decades in 2020, when it was championed by pro-life candidate Leslyn Lewis during the Conservative Partyleadership campaign that summer. A unilingual lawyer with no experience in government, Lewis had little chance of becoming leader. Nevertheless, the social conservative made banning some abortions a central part of her campaign. She was endorsed by the anti-abortion advocacy group Right Now and raised nearly $2 million. Her surprisingly strong showing at the convention — she led the popular vote on the second ballot before falling off in subsequent voting — illustrated the viability of abortion as an issue within the Conservative Party.
Abortion Pill
In July 2015, after a lengthy review process, the federal government allowed Canadian doctors to begin prescribing Mifegymiso; a drug regime more commonly known as the “abortion pill.” The two drugs that make up Mifegymiso allow women to end an early pregnancy (within 49 days of becoming pregnant) at home. Designed in part to improve access to abortion, the drugs act by inducing a miscarriage.
Unlike with other medical drugs, the federal government requires doctors to dispense Mifegymiso directly to patients; rather than sending them with a prescription to a pharmacy. However, those rules may be loosened in some provinces. Doctors are also required to take an online training course before they can dispense it. Women’s health advocates have criticized these rules; they say they unnecessarily complicate access to the drugs, and make it difficult for doctors with small practices, especially in rural areas, to stock supplies of it.
Long, Linda. “Abortion in Canada”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 26 November 2020, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/abortion. Accessed 04 May 2022.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
