GUELPH POLITICAST #352 - The Long Arms of the Roe Decision

It was a big year for abortion after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June ended the universal right to a legal abortion in the United States. But why do we care up here in Canada? Protests in the U.S. this summer were echoed by ones here in Canada, including a gathering here in Guelph, and the reason why is pretty obvious: We have our own issues with abortion access.

If you’re a woman or pregnant person in Guelph and you want to get an abortion for whatever reason, what do you do? Where do you go? Is there anywhere inside the city limits of Guelph you can seek a surgical abortion? The answer is no, and that’s one of the reasons why the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court hit so close to home. Even though abortion laws are drastically different in Canada, we have many of the same problems of access.

You see, abortion services tend to be close to big cities, and our big cities tend to be concentrated in the southern most areas of the county. Getting to these cities is an issue because our regional and national transit networks are lacking, and what if you need more than a couple of hours of care, or time off work, or childcare? Phrased this way, you can understand why women’s rights and health advocates are worried and how restricting abortion access anywhere can impact us here in Canada.

On this week's podcast we're joined by TK Pritchard, who is the executive director of the SHORE Centre in Kitchener to about those impacts. They will tell us about what options people have accessing family planning services locally, and why not all options should be considered equal. They will also talk about how the U.S. Supreme Court embolden anti-choice actors here in Canada, and why we need to make abortion a part of the total healthcare conversation. And finally, Pritchard will talk about why family planning is about more than just abortion.

So let's talk about why issues of abortion access are a Canadian issue too on this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about the SHORE Centre in Kitchener including a list of their services and how you can access them at their website, and follow Pritchard on social media @TKPritchard. If you’re interested in advocacy to increase abortion access in Guelph and Canada, you can seek out the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, or the National Abortion Federation Canada.

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