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November - December 2023

Searching for solutions

Rachel Cairns frankly addresses gaps in Canadian abortion care in her new play

Dominique Gené

“How do I get an abortion?” an anxious woman asks the doctor. He responds with his own questions about her relationship status, her income and her decision to not have a child. This interaction isn’t fictitious; it’s the opening scene of Rachel Cairns’s podcast “Aborsh” and her upcoming autobiographical play, Hypothetical Baby. Her unhelpful doctor’s appointment […] More »
November-December 2017

Meet Canada’s abortion doulas

The assistants help break down the stigma for Canadians terminating their pregnancies

Sara Tatelman

In March 2012, Shannon Hardy came across dozens of headlines about Prince Edward Island’s abortion policy. The Island hadn’t offered in-province abortion services for 30 years, and those seeking terminations at private clinics had to travel to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick on their own dime. “I just thought, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe […] More »

Inside the complicated world of North American anti-abortion activists

Lauren McKeon follows anti-abortionists south of the border in her new book, F-Bomb

Lauren McKeon

The day before the 2017 March for Life, anti-abortion activists took over the hulking Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel. After lunch, I joined about fifty activists, lawyers, law students, and others for the adjacent Law of Life Summit, designed to advance the anti-abortion movement through putting forward more antiabortion legislation, attacking Planned Parenthood as a […] More »
November-December 2016

REVIEW: Anthology on abortion shares powerful first-person stories

New collection features five-part series chronicling the history of criminalization of abortion in Canada

Ashani Jodha@ashjodha

Without Apology: Writing on Abortion in Canada Edited by Shannon Stettner AU Press, $29.95 Kristen was in high school. Mackenzie was 23. Jess made a pros and cons list. Each woman had an abortion. Without Apology: Writings on Abortion in Canada centres around a woman’s right to choose. In this five-part series, women share their […] More »

Gender Block: more abortion options in 2016

New drug development and approval could mean better abortion access this year

Hillary Di Menna

“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament,” wrote feminist writer Susan Maushart  in her book The Mask of Motherhood, after seeing it written in a New York subterranean passageway. Women are still forced to ask Daddy Patriarchy for permission when it comes to reproductive rights. Being denied access to a safe abortion […] More »

Gender Block: Trudeau time

Gender parity in the cabinet is great—but where does our new PM Justin Trudeau stand on other women's rights issues? Hillary Di Menna examines Trudeau's stance on childcare, women's shelters, abortion and more

Hillary Di Menna

Monday October 19 came and went, showing Stephen Harper the door on the way out. Canada’s new Prime Minister is loved, hated, and internationally lusted after apparently (PILF is a thing now, huh). Justin Trudeau, a self-described feminist, talked about women’s rights throughout his campaign; time will tell if the talk goes anywhere. Our new […] More »

Gender Block: election time

As Canada's federal election approaches, which party leaders are paying attention to women's issues?

Hillary Di Menna

Election day is October 19 and women’s issues are being discussed, sort of. Like, one of the discussions is about how major party leaders aren’t actually into the idea of having these discussions. Here’s a glimpse so far: Up for Debate Wouldn’t it be handy if there were a debate specifically about women’s issues? There […] More »

Gender Block: doctors can’t deny care based on their own beliefs. Wait, they could before?

Hillary Di Menna

In early March, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario released a draft policy paper saying doctors could no longer deny patient care based on moral or religious grounds. The Professional Obligations and Human Rights policy requires doctors who limit the care they provide based on beliefs—such as refusing to prescribe birth control or […] More »

Gender Block: New Brunswick’s abortion regulations are a danger to women

Hillary Di Menna

New Brunswick’s only private abortion facility will be closing by the end of July due to lack of funding. The Morgentaler Clinic announced the news last Thursday, April 10. If this closure happens, women in New Brunswick, and some from P.E.I (who make up 10 percent of the clinic’s clientele) will have little choice when it […] More »
January-February 2014

Cover story: No choice

Rebecca Melnyk

The anti-abortion movement has newly latched onto Post-Abortion Syndrome, a controversial diagnosis that it claims mimics PTSD. The pro-choice response: the syndrome doesn’t exist. How women’s grief became the latest abortion battleground Outside the walls of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, a light snow falls quietly on the streets. Inside, the waiting room is not much […] More »

WTF Wednesday: The New Abortion Caravan is pro-life

Kyle Dupont

Over 30 years ago, the pro-choice movement in Canada was at its peak. In 1970 the Vancouver Women’s Caucus travelled across the country as part of the Abortion Caravan. Stopping in various cities and towns on their way to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the women spent their evenings hearing the stories of other women so […] More »