‘Not reopening the issue’ of abortion not good enough
In 2021, abortion should be an election issue — just not in the way Justin Trudeau thinks. He pulls the topic out of his back pocket and whacks Conservatives over the head with it when polls don’t go his way, but what, exactly, has his government done to improve access over the last six years?
The answer is not much. What he has done, however, is capitalize on its contentious status in the U.S. to paint abortion as a winners-take-all issue, where victory simply means maintaining the status quo of legality and “not reopening the issue.” That’s not nearly good enough for a leader who claims to care deeply about women’s rights.
Abortion has been decriminalized in Canada since 1988, but actual access to reproductive health care remains limited to non-existent in many parts of the country. After six years of governing, Trudeau hasn’t made any significant strides on accessibility — rather, he hops on the abortion merry-go-round during campaigns and hops right off again when he wins. Case in point: this April’s federal budget was the first under Trudeau to even mention the word “abortion.”
Now the Liberal platform has some shiny new promises, which include establishing regulations about accessibility for sexual and reproductive health services under the Canada Health Act, providing funds for youth-led organizations that address sexual and reproductive health needs, and axing anti-abortion organizations’ charity status.
However, Trudeau’s last two stints in office show he isn’t particularly good at following through on big promises, particularly ones mostly included for political convenience.
Savvy platform readers may notice that, for example, universal pharmacare, which was a major Liberal campaign pledge in 2015 and 2019, is gone without a trace in 2021. This is also the Liberals’ third time campaigning on a conversion therapy ban — one which would already be in place if Trudeau hadn’t recently dissolved Parliament.
When such promises magically appear after over half a decade of inaction, right when it looks like the Conservatives have a real shot at winning in September, and right when the Liberals are trending down with women and young people, it’s hard not to be skeptical.
By the way, that disappeared pharmacare promise would’ve gone a long way to making birth control more affordable and accessible in Canada. It comes as a surprise to many, but birth control and contraceptive devices are actually cheaper and easier to get in most parts of the U.S. and some parts of the Middle East.
You won’t hear Trudeau mention this neat little fact, but we’re also one of the only Western nations to not offer universal access to birth control. Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and 10 other European countries do.
Trudeau’s Liberals have also ignored calls by women’s rights advocates to provide proper reproductive health care, including abortion services, access to contraception, prenatal care, basic health education, and menstrual products, in federal women’s prisons. But, of course, adequate care for female inmates, who are disproportionately Indigenous, isn’t as fun as bashing one’s political opponents for the headlines.
A woman’s right to choose goes both ways, and there’s also been a disturbing lack of action on reports of coerced and forced sterilizations of Indigenous women in Canadian hospitals. While the issue made headlines again this year, senators and advocates have been pushing Trudeau to act on the problem since at least 2019. Yet, it continues.
When it comes to reproductive and sexual health, decriminalized abortions are basically the bottom of the barrel. That Canada hasn’t moved significantly forward on the issue in 30-plus years comes down to a lack of leadership and politicians who’d rather obfuscate the issue to score points than engage in thoughtful, ongoing, nuanced dialogue.
Had Trudeau meaningfully addressed or spoken about even a third of the issues mentioned in this column prior to this week, I’d be more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. But, outside of campaign season, there’s barely been a peep. Thus it’s difficult to see his newest promises as anything but opportunistic drivel, here until election day then gone the next.