Abortion in Canada as a Social Justice Issue in Contemporary Canada

Abstract

Twenty-five years after the legal decision that decriminalized abortion in Canada, significant barriers and issues continue to impact the ability of women to exercise their right to bodily integrity. Provinces have abdicated their responsibility to provide adequate abortion access; Members of Parliament continue to introduce and entertain anti-abortion motions and bills; Crisis Pregnancy Centres and anti-abortion advocates perpetuate myths; and women continue to face judgment for controlling their reproduction. The Canadian Association of Social Workers articulates that social workers have an ethical obligation to work towards social justice for all. This paper serves to explain why abortion is still a critical social justice issue, and compels readers to take action against the reproductive oppression of women.

Optimizing the Nursing Role in Abortion Care: Considerations for Health Equity

“…US-based research has found that 8.4% of abortion patients are currently experiencing intimate partner violence (Saftlas et al 2010), and abortion is more common among women in poverty (Dehlendorf et al 2013). Furthermore, given the cultural and political stigmatization surrounding abortion (La Roche and Foster 2018;Shaw 2019), trust in providers is particularly important. Empowering, patient-centred care is crucial.…”

Student Encounters with a Campus Crisis Pregnancy Centre: Choice, Reproductive Justice and Sexual and Reproductive Health Supports

“…Typically associated with conservative Christian ministries (Thomsen & Morrison 2020), CPCs will not refer for abortion or provide information on how to access abortion; they offer testing using commercial pregnancy kits and non-professional 'counselling' that is anti-abortion (ARRC 2018). The promotion of their services is frequently misleading, positioning groups as a first point of contact for unexpected pregnancy, and their materials tend to include medically inaccurate information about consequences of terminating pregnancy (Arthur et al 2016;LaRoche & Foster 2015;Li 2019, Shaw 2013a, McLeod 2018. In sum, CPCs "impede women's fully-informed decisions and threaten women's reproductive autonomy" (Li 2019:28) and are therefore a site of concern for feminists who support access to sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion .…”

Thinking with Stories

“…Working towards a more socially just society is one of the core values of the Canadian Association of Social Workers (2005) and the National Association of Social Workers (2008), and was one of the practical justifications for my research. I have previously written about why abortion is a social-justice issue, and why social workers have an ethical obligation to advocate for abortion rights (Shaw, 2013), and I used my doctoral research to strengthen this argument (Shaw, 2015).…”

“…A story becomes political when the experiences relayed in it comment on the world as framed by politics (Shenhav, 2006). Abortion provision is political work because: it continues to be raised as a topic of debate in political settings (in houses of government and in court); because providing abortions allows women to be more politically and socially active (see Shaw, 2013); and because stories of abortion provision comment on the significance of abortion in a politicized society. "The dominant role of narratives in political discourse is... based on the centrality of narrative in the formulation and maintenance of worldviews" (Shenhav, 2006, p. 246).…”