After declaring that US women would be welcome to have abortions in Canada if Roe v. Wade is overturned, Liberal minister of families, children, and social development Karina Gould is now refusing to say whether the policy includes unvaccinated women.
In an interview with CBC, Gould proclaimed last week that American women prevented from obtaining an abortion would be able to undergo the procedure in Canada.
A leaked draft of US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s decision opinion would overturn the precedent set by the 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which established a right for women to abort their pregnancies in the US constitution.
Public safety minister Marco Mendicino also declared that he had alerted border patrol agents that American women coming to Canada to have an abortion were welcome.
“I’ve engaged CBSA (the Canada Border Services Agency), my office is currently working with them to make sure there are clear guidelines so that women who may not be able to access healthcare including abortions are able to come to Canada,” he said.
In Mar. 2020, the Canadian and American governments agreed to close the Canada-US land border, which has remained closed to citizens who have not received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
True North reached out to Gould’s office and CBSA for comment, asking if the government would permit American women to enter Canada to obtain abortions regardless of their vaccination status.
As of this article’s publication, both Gould and CBSA have failed to comment on the matter.
According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 66% of Americans are fully vaccinated, suggesting that over 100 million Americans cannot cross the Canada-US border due to vaccination status.
Among black Americans, the issues are more pronounced, with data showing only 47% are fully vaccinated. Despite making up only 12.4% of the American population, black communities obtained 38% of all abortions in 2019.
In some American cities, more black babies are aborted than born.
The Trudeau government has committed to eliminating racial discrimination, with the government “developing a whole-of-government action plan to eliminate systemic racism.”
Despite this initiative, the data would suggest that black Americans – who seek abortions at a much higher rate than the general American population – would be disproportionately barred from entering Canada due to their vaccination status.
The Trudeau government is expected to announce additional funding to “strengthen access to abortion” on Wednesday.
