As the US Supreme Court looks set to overturn Roe v. Wade, Canada is welcoming American women to cross the border for abortions, Canada’s minister of families, children, and social development, Karina Gould, said Tuesday.
Asked if American women could get abortions in Canada, Gould noted that service would be provided to all women who go there and need access noting, however, that Americans who go to Canada for abortion services would have to pay for the procedure out-of-pocket or through private insurance.
A spokesperson for Gould explained that Americans that are not covered by provincial health insurance by the Interim Federal Health Program or Non-Insured Health Benefits would continue to have to pay for the service out-of-pocket or by their own private insurance if they’re accessing health care services in Canada.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Canada’s minister is also concerned about abortion access for Canadian women close to the US border since many of them who don’t live near a major Canadian city often access these services in the United States.
Her comment comes in light of the leaked Justice Samuel Alito’s written majority opinion – dated in February when the judges were still in early considerations on the case – on overturning Roe v. Wade, the decision of which is expected in the next two months.
The opinion brands the decades-old Roe decision – which essentially established that the right to privacy extends to reproductive choices- constitutionally dubious and egregiously wrong due to an alleged exceptionally weak reasoning and points out its damaging consequences by dividing the nation and robbing states officials of the power to regulate the practice.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade – the landmark decision that allowed legal abortions in the US – would mean returning the abortion issue back to the states’ legislatures at a time when with more than twenty GOP-led states are planning to quickly ban or severely restrict the procedure.
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