Reproductive rights ‘need to be talked about’
Student says abortion could be ‘in jeopardy’ if Tories are elected
The Star has been talking with young Torontonians about the issues they're watching this federal election. Today, we speak to a young student about why she thinks reproductive rights need more attention:
Madeline Smart has been going through highlights of the major federal parties’ platforms hoping to find a section on women’s reproductive rights, but it’s never there.
“Maybe people think it’s too small and they just talk about health care in general, but it’s literally half the population; that’s part of our health care that need to be talked about,” the 21-year-old Centennial College journalism student says.
“I feel like women’s reproductive rights is really being left out of that conversation.”
Abortion and reproductive rights in Canada came up in the federal election campaign after Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who says he is “personally pro-life” (anti-abortion), said his party would not stop MPs from tabling private members’ bills seeking to limit reproductive rights.
Scheer has said he would vote against such a bill and does not intend to reopen the abortion debate.
That assurance is not enough for Smart.
(The Star spoke with her at a west-end laundromat.)
“I think there’s a good chance if he does get elected, that our reproductive rights would be in jeopardy,” she says.
“That’s not something anyone should gamble with.”
The other major federal party leaders have said candidates running for them must be prochoice (for the right be able to choose to have an abortion) or defend pro-choice policies.
The issue blew up on Smart’s social media feeds this past summer as several U.S. states began to pass limitations on abortions, challenging a precedent set by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade, in effect, giving women the right to have one, should they choose to
Even in Canada, anti-abortion groups have been showing up at universities and other public places, often with graphic signs decrying abortion. “Which is what blows my mind, that some people are either uneducated or just so formally against it,” says Smart, who adds that she doesn’t think men, or even women past their reproductive years, should have a say in other people’s reproductive rights.
She says it’s rare to see young anti-abortion protesters, although sometimes they show up with their parents.
“It must be an age thing, and I also think obviously religion plays a part in it, as well. Everyone’s free to practise whatever religion they want.
“They can do whatever they think and believe in whatever they want.
“But I feel like you can’t let that infringe on other people’s rights,” Smart says.
She doesn’t just want to see politicians talk of maintaining the right to have an abortion; there are access issues outside of big Canadian cities and in the East Coast that should be addressed, she says, and access to birth control shouldn’t be ignored.
“Birth control is expensive. A lot of people don’t realize that. There are different forms of birth control that aren’t covered.
“Some women don’t like the pill and that’s the easiest one to get,” Smart says.
“One hundred per cent, reproductive rights should be super important in this election. People should be paying more attention.”
Join us as we make our way through the city chatting with young Torontonians about the issues they’re watching this federal election. In the first of the series, we speak to a group of George Brown College culinary arts students having lunch at St. Lawrence Market about the rising cost of living and the grind to get a good job.
Minimum wage may have gone up over the years, but that hasn’t necessarily made life more affordable for young students in Toronto.
“Yeah, the $14 an hour is nice, but, at the same time, again, all the prices are getting jacked up,” says Leonel Rivera,19. “You’re paying more on your bills rather than expenses that could be paid (somewhere else), like maybe trying to get a new home or maybe trying to put food on the table.”
The economy and jobs remain one of the top issues to Canadians in this election, according to a recent Forum poll. The Star caught up with Rivera, along with two fellow George Brown College culinary arts students, on a recent weekday at St. Lawrence Market to chat about the struggles they have faced building careers.
“We all plan to vote and our focuses will include education and employment,” says Alyssa Crocco, 24. “I haven’t made a decision but I know a little about each of the platforms. It’s definitely really accessible. There are a lot of articles
circling social media that break each platform down. Seems like a lot of people are interested more so than other elections, at least people my age.”
She and her friends say they chose the culinary arts industry in part because they felt it offered more opportunities than other industries that are oversaturated and full of older workers who aren’t retiring at the same rates. The students say they’re working minimum wage or slightly higher-than-minimum-paying jobs while aiming to work their way up.
“Money goes by so fast, plus the cost of tuition,” Erica Li, 20, says. “It’s tough.”
Li and Crocco live at home with parents in Richmond Hill. Sometimes they take an Uber home, and that’s still cheaper than trying to pay rent in Toronto, they say. Instead of saving up for a big-ticket item, like how her parents may have saved up for a home, Li is trying to scrape together enough for a vacation in 2020. “It’s not going so well,” she laughs.
“Things like owning a home, owning a car, that kind of stuff, it feels like so far out of the realm of possibility based on our salaries that we need to save for short-term goals because it’s a bigger motivator,” Crocco says.