Justin Trudeau promises more protection for abortion rights in Canada

OTTAWA — How far the Liberals are prepared to go — and how fast — to ensure Canadians continue to have access to abortion was up for debate inside government Wednesday.

A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would roll back abortion rights prompted a discussion among Liberal MPs in their weekly meeting about the state of their government’s commitments to protecting reproductive rights.

Heading into that meeting, several said their campaign promises on that score will be implemented, and the news out of the U.S. puts more urgency on doing so, especially given the chance that Canada may one day have a government that takes a different position on the issue.

That’s why, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said ahead of the meeting, he’s asked two of his ministers to look into the “legal framework” around services like abortion “to ensure that we move forward as necessary on ensuring that not just under this government, but under any future government, the rights of women are properly protected.”

But at the same time, it’s essential to proceed deliberately, said Liberal House Leader Mark Holland, who refused to put a timeline on any new steps by the government.

“I think the vast majority of Canadians want to see a woman’s autonomy over her own body and her choice for her future and her life to be protected,” Holland told reporters after the meeting.

“We do not want to see any infringement on that, but I think we need to take a step back and make sure we do it right and that it’s not reactionary in terms of what we’re going to do.”

Liberals also pointed to steps they’ve already taken, including $45 million in the 2021 budget for organizations that work on those issues, and a recent bill that criminalizes the harassment of health-care workers.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said he is also working to provide clear guidance to border officers that any Americans who disclose they are entering Canada to have an abortion should not be turned away.

When pressed, he admitted they would not be turned back now, but he thought it was a good idea to be clear with officers about it should the U.S. court in fact overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and others.

The draft of the U.S. court decision was published Monday night by Politico, and the final ruling is expected later this year.

Canada has had no criminal law on abortion since 1988, when the Supreme Court found in the case of R. v. Morgentaler that a law in existence at the time violated Charter rights.

Provinces have jurisdiction over health care, which means they can still restrict access to abortion. If they do so, however, they risk having federal transfer payments for health care clawed back by Ottawa, something the government has done with New Brunswick in the past.

During last summer’s federal election campaign, the Liberals suggested they wanted to make that ability clearer through regulations in the Canada Health Act.

However, the mandate letters for Health Minister Yves Duclos and Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien only ask them to work on “reinforcing compliance” with the act.

During the campaign, the Liberals also promised $10 million to Health Canada for a website to provide information on abortion rights.

Duclos said Wednesday that work was ongoing.

“It is progressing and we are soon going to make further announcements on that, given the nature of the current environment that is becoming even more pressing,” he said.

The Liberals also promised to remove the charitable status of anti-abortion organizations that provide “dishonest counselling to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy.”

Fulfilling that promise falls to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, and it appears in her mandate letter. But how soon the government might move on it remains unclear.

Families Minister Karina Gould suggested the urgency for the Liberals — and for Canada — stems from the makeup of the federal Conservative party, in which there are dozens of MPs who oppose abortion and have backed private members’ bills in the past to restrict it.

“Every Canadian woman and every Canadian ally across the country should be extremely concerned about that,” she said.

The Conservatives’ official party policy is that they would never introduce any laws to restrict access to abortion in Canada, a position reiterated by the party’s interim leader this week.

However, Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis says she would impose some restrictions on access to abortion if she were to head a government.

Other Tories say the debate has been settled in Canada and there’s no need to reopen it.

“For myself, it is something behind us. I know there are some MPs who want to revive that subject, but for us, it’s dead,” said Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu.

“We hope the new leader will put a nail in that subject.”

Boisvenu is among those backing Jean Charest’s bid for leadership of the party.

Charest said Tuesday he is pro-choice and his government would not introduce or support any legislation restricting reproductive rights.