The Government of Canada has been openly and loudly candid about women’s reproductive rights and where they stand on the polarizing debate.
On Tuesday, the federal government made its voice heard and announced it would invest $4.1 million in funding for the sexual and reproductive health of Canadians.
This will also include improving access by removing barriers to abortion services for women.
Marci Ien, minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, was a part of the big announcement and recently spoke with Now Toronto on the importance of funding services for underserved women.
The organizations leading the charge for Canadians are the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), the University of British Columbia’s Contraception and Abortion Research Team (CART) and Action Canada’s services, including its crisis line.
“One in three people who get pregnant will seek access to an abortion at some point in their lives. And if you are a racialized woman, an Indigenous woman, a woman with a disability, those numbers are higher,” Ien said.
Ien also notes that the idea that those seeking abortions are usually underaged and unwed is a damaging stereotype.
“Mothers have abortions too. A lot of the times we frame who accesses an abortion a certain way. That’s simply not the case and the more we talk about this, the more we put real stories and real people to abortion access, the better,” she said.
However, just as the government has been loud about abortion rights, some Canadians have been equally as loud about limiting them.
This week, many Ontarians will march to stand united with the pro-life movement against abortion.
In Toronto, the “March for Life ” will take place on Friday at 11a.m. at Queen’s Park. Ottawa’s march took place Thursday at Parliament Hill.
“This is a call to action, this is a wake up call” Ien said, referring to the planned marches.
“Women are not vessels for the purpose of pregnancy, we’re people.”
Ien also pointed to the same debate happening south of the border surrounding the rights to abortion.
“Anyone who thinks that the same messaging isn’t [happening in Canada too] isn’t paying attention. Our government will always stand up for women’s rights and women’s right to choose what they want to do.”
“This is dangerous territory and we need to pay attention to what’s happening here,” she continued.
When asked to weigh in on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s viral run-in with a young Canadian on women’s abortion rights, she said she wasn’t surprised by his stance and was proud.
“I wouldn’t have expected him to say one iota of anything different then what he said. It is a woman’s right, period.”
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