FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
In rage and solidarity, Planned Parenthood Toronto (PPT) stands with the people of the United States as Roe v. Wade, is set to be repealed by the US Supreme Court.
“We are utterly devastated, shocked and dismayed at the news that the US Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights” says Mohini Datta-Ray, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Toronto, “this is a day of mourning and rage. We stand in solidarity with the 80% of the US population that supports access to abortion and condemn the tiny percentage with outlandish wealth and power that consistently look for increasingly brutal ways to maintain power and control over everybody else.
“The billions of dollars that have gone into creating the conditions for this decision, including stacking the US Supreme Court with increasingly hard-line Republican justices, stems directly from white supremacy and misogyny and an attempt to control and continue to suppress communities; particularly racialized communities, women and trans people. It is a horrifying strategy attempting to rally support for an extreme right wing agenda through brutal suppression of people with less power, and, of the majority will” Datta-Ray continued. “There is a disingenuous argument that dismantling Roe v. Wade is in the best interest of racialized communities. We reject that whole heartedly. As with racist police brutality and incarceration, terrible conditions for workers, dismantling public healthcare, we can always expect the reasoning for these racist, misogynist tactics to be presented as “moral” and protecting the people they do the most harm to.
Late on the evening of May 2 2022, the world learned through the website Politico what many had been bracing for. The draft majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito strongly and gleefully repudiates Roe v. Wade the landmark and hard-fought 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to abortion.
Datta-Ray cautions that Canadians must not rest easy that this previously unimaginable outcome won’t be achieved or seriously attempted in our own country. “We at Planned Parenthood Toronto have been watching these developments with growing alarm, considering the implications for our own communities. Every time a high-profile right-wing stunt is carried off in the US or Canada, it opens the door slightly wider here in Canada. It shifts the benchmark of what is acceptable to even debate. Canada must strongly condemn this move by the US Supreme court. Canada must also immediately and strongly commit to a reproductive justice frame or we risk being pulled into the so-called “culture wars” of the US and losing the right to our own humanity.
Facts in Canada
- We don’t have laws governing abortion in Canada, but many don’t realize how difficult it can be to access one. There are currently only 9 clinics that provide surgical abortion in all of Ontario – almost all of which are in the south. New Brunswick still doesn’t have a single abortion clinic.
- This situation in the US also highlights how fragile access is in Canada. For example, from https://www.actioncanadashr.org Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are anti-abortion organizations that provide counseling and other prenatal services. CPCs often provide inaccurate information about abortion or pregnancy options that may delay or interfere with people’s access to abortion and contraceptive services and improperly influence people’s reproductive health decisions. In addition to pregnancy tests and counselling, some of these centers offer ultrasound services, which can blur the line with medical services. In Canada, there are more CPCs than abortion providers. In Alberta, for example, there are 5 abortion providers and 28 CPCs. In Ontario there are 77 CPCs and 11 abortion providers . Many CPCs exist in smaller communities where there are no abortion providers and no judgement-free sexual health centres and are often the first search results for abortion information online.
- During the pandemic PPT saw a sharp increase of youth traveling to us from across and out of province looking for reproductive and abortion care, highlighting the large gap in access that exists in Canada
- PPT joins a chorus of Canadian reproductive rights organizations in demanding that the federal government hold provinces accountable to the Canada Health Act.
- We demand entrenched, community-driven reproductive justice for all communities, particularly Indigenous, Black and racialized communities, that ensure the rights of all Canadians to have bodily autonomy, to have children, not have children, and to raise children in safe and sustainable environments, as per the calls of reproductive justice
In the US:
- Overturning Roe v. Wade could result in over half (26) states in the US moving to wipe out abortion access. That would disproportionately harm people already facing systemic discrimination. 36 million cis women, and many other genders who can become pregnant will lose access to abortion
- Reproductive Justice is a justice-orientated frame put forward by Indigenous and Black feminists and laid out formally by SisterSong https://www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice
Planned Parenthood Toronto was first established in 1961. Today, we are a pro-choice community health centre (CHC) that advocates for the sexual health, health and well-being of youth. We believe in a future of reproductive choice, freedom and possibilities. PPT is located at 36B Prince Arthur, right by St. George Station and serves youth of all genders between the ages of 13-29 in their primary and sexual and reproductive healthcare. We also deliver a diverse range of celebrated youth-driven programming (with a focus on 2SLGBTQIA and racialized youth) throughout the city of Toronto.
Mohini Datta-Ray,
Executive Director Planned Parenthood Toronto
36B Prince Arthur Avenue
c: 289 242 8810 e: mdatta-ray@ppt.on.ca