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In PEI, the right to choose: No longer 'the shame of being shipped off the island' from the Globe and Mail.
Facing a court challenge, the Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island capitulated and decided to allow abortion in the province apparently after having a conversation with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. This is a step forward for the tiny province and women's rights as Trump's recent ramblings have sparked controversy in the US the second last to fully support access to abortion.
For those of you who do not know in 1988 all of the criminal laws against abortion were thrown out after a Supreme Court case against Dr. Morgentaler. Since then there have been no new laws and the realm of abortion in Canada has been a kind of wild west with attempts to create news laws are met with staunch opposition and last time resignations. Except in New Brunswick and PEI where they passed their own resolutions banning or limiting abortion. Other provinces allowed it after 1988 and the cost is covered by the province.
The change, announced Thursday by Liberal Premier Wade MacLauchlan in the face of a court challenge by a pro-choice group, is being heralded as a victory for reproductive choice for women.
“The idea that women aren’t going to have to go through the fight I did, and feel the shame of being shipped off the island and hide, is so important,” Ms. Fraser, a 29-year-old mother of three, said Friday from PEI. “I hope women never know what it’s like to jump over barrier after barrier. I didn’t think this day was ever going to come. It’s been so long, it feels surreal.”
The group behind the legal challenge, Abortion Access Now PEI Inc., said it didn’t know until the last minute how the government of PEI was going to respond to its suit. After three decades of political opposition to abortion in PEI, where the issue remains politically divisive, advocates wondered if the Premier would announce he was going to fight it.
Facing a court challenge, the Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island capitulated and decided to allow abortion in the province apparently after having a conversation with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. This is a step forward for the tiny province and women's rights as Trump's recent ramblings have sparked controversy in the US the second last to fully support access to abortion.
For those of you who do not know in 1988 all of the criminal laws against abortion were thrown out after a Supreme Court case against Dr. Morgentaler. Since then there have been no new laws and the realm of abortion in Canada has been a kind of wild west with attempts to create news laws are met with staunch opposition and last time resignations. Except in New Brunswick and PEI where they passed their own resolutions banning or limiting abortion. Other provinces allowed it after 1988 and the cost is covered by the province.