View source for Abortion in Canada

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'''Abortion in Canada''' is legal throughout pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal ''[[Canada Health Act]]'' and provincial health-care systems.<ref name="StrachanPoloni-Staudinger2019">{{cite book|author1=J. Cherie Strachan|author2=Lori M. Poloni-Staudinger|author3=Shannon Jenkins|author4=Candice D. Ortbals|title=Why Don't Women Rule the World?: Understanding Women's Civic and Political Choices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCiHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA115|year=2019|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-5443-1727-4|page=115}}</ref> However, [[#Accessibility and methods|access to services and resources]] varies by region.<ref name="Sethna Doull 2013 pp. 52–62">{{cite journal | last1=Sethna | first1=Christabelle | last2=Doull | first2=Marion | title=Spatial disparities and travel to freestanding abortion clinics in Canada | journal=Women's Studies International Forum | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=38 | year=2013 | issn=0277-5395 | doi=10.1016/j.wsif.2013.02.001 | pages=52–62}}</ref> While some restrictions exist,<ref name="StrachanPoloni-Staudinger2019"/> Canada is one of the few nations with no [[abortion law|criminal restrictions]] on abortion.<ref name="SheldonWellings2020">{{cite book|author1=Sally Sheldon|author2=Kaye Wellings|title=Decriminalising Abortion in the UK: What Would It Mean?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGXXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA104|date=March 2020|publisher=Policy Press|isbn=978-1-4473-5401-7|pages=104–105}}</ref><ref name="AmmerManson2009">{{cite book|author1=Christine Ammer|author2=JoAnn E. Manson|title=The Encyclopedia of Women's Health|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_MRDimrELCIC&pg=PA7|access-date=November 28, 2011|date=February 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7407-5|page=7}}</ref> Abortion is subject to provincial healthcare regulatory rules and guidelines for physicians.<ref name="StettnerBurnettHay2017">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imhADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 |title=Abortion: History, Politics, and Reproductive Justice after Morgentaler |date=1 December 2017 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-3576-3 |editor1=Shannon Stettner |page=224 |oclc=1013541249 |editor2=Kristin Burnett |editor3=Travis Hay}}</ref><ref name="SallyKaye2020">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmXXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 |title=Decriminalising Abortion in the UK: What Would It Mean? |date=23 March 2020 |publisher=Policy Press |isbn=978-1-4473-5402-4 |editor1=Sheldon, Sally |pages=107– |oclc=1145588167 |editor2=Wellings, Kaye}}</ref> No jurisdiction offers abortion on request at 24 weeks and beyond, although there are exceptions for certain medical complications.<ref name="auto1" /><ref name="Action">{{Cite web |title=Access at a Glance: Abortion Services in Canada &#124; Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights |url=https://www.actioncanadashr.org/resources/factsheets-guidelines/2019-09-19-access-glance-abortion-services-canada |publisher=Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights |quote=While abortions after 20 weeks are statistically very rare (<2.5% of all abortions), there are people in Canada who require abortion beyond 20 weeks for serious and important reasons. There are only three service locations in Canada that offer abortion up to 23 weeks and 6 days (one in British Columbia, one in Southern Ontario, and one in Quebec). No providers in Canada offer abortion care beyond 23 weeks and 6 days.}}</ref>

Formally banned in 1869, abortion would remain illegal in [[Canadian law]] for the next 100 years.<ref name="Bromley2012"/> In 1969, the ''[[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69]]'' legalized therapeutic abortions, as long as a committee of doctors certified that continuing the pregnancy would likely endanger the woman's life or health.<ref name="Bromley2012">{{cite book|author=Victoria Bromley|title=Feminisms Matter: Debates, Theories, Activism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfHTPNPymsMC&pg=PA26|date= 2012|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-0502-2|pages=26–32}}</ref> In 1988, the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] ruled in ''[[R. v. Morgentaler]]'' that the existing law was unconstitutional, and struck down the 1969 Act.<ref name="Jhappan2002">{{cite book|author=Radha Jhappan|title=Women's Legal Strategies in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGMienMpAaIC&pg=PA335|year=2002|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-7667-0|pages=335–338}}</ref> The ruling found that the 1969 abortion law violated a woman's right to "life, liberty and security of the person" guaranteed under [[Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] established in 1982.<ref name = Morgentaler1988/>

In Canada, all surgical abortions are performed by a physician, with [[nurse practitioners]], [[pharmacists]] and [[midwives]] able to provide medications for non-invasive [[medical abortion]]s within nine weeks (63 days) of [[Gestational age (obstetrics)|gestation]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="nine">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1503/cmaj.180047|title=Mifepristone|year=2018|last1=Dunn|first1=Sheila|last2=Brooks|first2=Melissa|journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=190|issue=22|pages=E688|pmid=29866894|pmc=5988520 | issn = 0820-3946 }}</ref> Canada has had a relatively stable abortion rate since decriminalization; the rate of recorded abortion per 1000 women of childbearing age (15&ndash;44) was 10.2 in 1974, rising to 16.4 abortions per thousand women in 1997, and declining to 10.1 abortions per 1000 women in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2010-10-25 |title=Pregnancy outcomes (live births, induced abortions, and fetal loss) |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310016701 |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=www150.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref><ref name="Canadian Institute for Health Information">{{Cite web |last=Canadian Institute for Health Information |title=Induced Abortions Reported in Canada in 2020 |url=https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/induced-abortions-reported-in-canada-2020-en.xlsx}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2019.05.010|pmid=31281015|title=When there are no abortion laws: A case study of Canada|year=2020|last1=Shaw|first1=Dorothy|last2=Norman|first2=Wendy V.|journal=Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology|volume=62|pages=49–62|s2cid=181481915 |url=https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4654994/20/When-there-are-no-abortion-laws.pdf}}</ref> However, these rates of abortion only reflect the number of abortions reported by abortion clinics and hospitals. They do not account for unreported abortions in these setting or count abortions induced by prescription drugs such as [[mifepristone]] and [[misoprostol]] taken at home, and so these official rates of abortion undercount the true rate of abortion.<ref name="Canadian Institute for Health Information" /> Nevertheless, Canada has a low [[List of countries by abortion statistics|abortion rate]] overall compared to other countries,<ref name="a337">{{cite web | title=Why abortion rates are rising abroad—but not in Canada | website=UBC News | date=2025-04-14 | url=https://news.ubc.ca/2025/04/abortion-rates-canada-vs-global-trends/ | access-date=2025-09-25}}</ref> with approximately 74,000 abortions reported in 2020. Roughly half of abortions occur among women aged 18 to 29 years and roughly 90% of abortions are performed within the first trimester (12 weeks).<ref name="Stats2017">{{cite web |year=2020 |title=Statistics - Abortion in Canada |url=https://www.arcc-cdac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/statistics-abortion-in-canada.pdf |work=Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada - Statistics Canada}}</ref>

==History==
=== Early history ===

[[File:Portrait of Emily Stowe.jpg|thumb|[[Emily Howard Stowe]] was the first female physician to practise in Canada, the second licensed female physician in Canada and an activist for women's rights and suffrage.]]
During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, abortion before the “[[quickening]]” (15–20 weeks<ref>Levene, Malcolm et al. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FHXtDkLzOHEC&dq=%22quickening%22+and+obese&pg=RA2-PA8 Essentials of Neonatal Medicine]'' (Blackwell 2000), page 8. Retrieved 2007-02-15.</ref>) was legal in the [[British North American]] colonies.<ref name="Saurette Gordon 2016 p. 95"/> However, as the century progressed, the United Kingdom began to pass laws which created criminal offences relating to abortion, such as the ''[[Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803]]'', that made performing or attempting to perform a post quickening abortion a death penalty offence. That was followed in 1837 by the ''[[Offences Against the Person Act 1837]]'', that removed the death penalty clause, while making the procurement of any [[miscarriage]] unlawful.<ref name="Saurette Gordon 2016 p. 95">{{cite book | last1=Saurette | first1=P. | last2=Gordon | first2=K. | title=The Changing Voice of the Anti-Abortion Movement: The Rise of "Pro-Woman" Rhetoric in Canada and the United States | publisher=University of Toronto Press | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4426-6876-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HRn8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 | access-date=2023-06-04 | pages=92–97}}</ref><ref name="Paterson2014">{{cite book|author=Stephanie Paterson|title=Fertile Ground: Exploring Reproduction in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZHdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA234|date=June 2014|publisher=MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-9212-4|page=234}}</ref> The British North American provinces followed the British example and began restricting abortion rights.<ref name="Paterson2014"/> Abortion was prohibited in Canada in 1869, two years after the country's formation.<ref name="Paterson2014"/><ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =An Act respecting Offences against the Person|abbr =SC|year =1869|chapter =20|section =59, 60.|link =https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08050_2/201}}</ref> That prohibition was continued in the ''[[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]'' until 1969. Anyone who procured a miscarriage for a woman was liable to imprisonment for life, while a woman who procured a miscarriage for herself was liable to imprisonment for two years.<ref>''Criminal Code'', SC 1953-54, c. 51, s. 237(1),(2).  Section 237(1) provided:  "Every one who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of a female person, whether or not she is pregnant, uses any means for the purpose of carrying out his intention is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life."</ref>

As in other countries, illegal abortions were still performed, and some cases charged that this led to the deaths of women. The [[abortion trial of Emily Stowe]] (1879) is one early example.<ref>Constance B. Backhouse, "The Celebrated Abortion Trial of Dr. Emily Stowe, Toronto, 1879", ''Canadian Bulletin of Medical History/{{lang|fr|Bulletin canadien d'histoire de la médecine}}'', Volume 8: 1991, pages 159–187.</ref> Another such case, ''[[Azoulay v. The Queen]]'',<ref>[http://canlii.ca/t/1nlgg ''Azoulay v. The Queen''<nowiki>, [1952] 2 S.C.R. 495</nowiki>].</ref> reached the Supreme Court in 1952. In both cases, the alleged abortion provider was ultimately acquitted of responsibility for the woman's death. Abortion rights activist Marilyn Wilson, former executive director of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League, says, "Illegal abortions were common, but often of poor safety. Several hundred women per year died from botched abortions."<ref>"Three decades of choice: Canada's landmark abortion law is 30 years old tomorrow." Marilyn Wilson. ''The Gazette'' May 13, 1999. pg. B.3</ref>

=== Liberalisation of abortion laws ===

==== Chief Coroner Shulman ====

The movement to liberalize Canada's abortion laws began in the 1960s. Former Chief [[Coroner]] of [[Ontario]] [[Morton Shulman]] recalls that in the sixties, abortion could be legally performed only to save the life of the woman, so there were practically no legal abortions. He stated that the pregnant daughters of the rich were sent to reliable physicians who did abortions for cash. He estimated that these physicians did twenty to thirty abortions per week. Women who were not rich were left to perform an [[unsafe abortion|abortion]] on themselves or go to what he called a "nurse" abortionist. Their method was commonly pumping [[Lysol]] into the woman's womb. The mortality rate was high and the infection rate was over 50%. He added, "By the time I became Chief Coroner, I had had the unpleasant experience of seeing the bodies of some dozens of young women who had died as a result of these amateur abortions."<ref name="shulman">Shulman, Morton. ''Coroner,'' pp 58–61 Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1975.</ref>

Shulman decided to publicize deaths from illegal abortions.<ref name="Gazdar2016">{{cite book|author=Kaevan Gazdar|title=Feminism's Founding Fathers: The Men Who Fought for Women's Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xznaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT148|date= 2016|publisher=John Hunt Publishing|isbn=978-1-78099-161-0|page=148}}</ref> He instructed his coroners to call a public inquest into each abortion death.<ref name="Gazdar2016"/> He describes one case that he believes was the turning point, that of 34-year-old Lottie Leanne Clarke, a mother of three children, who died of a massive infection in 1964 after an illegal abortion in spite of medical treatment and antibiotics. At the inquest into her death, the jury recommended that the laws about therapeutic abortion be revised. Shulman added that a federal government committee should review the question of abortion and the law. Newspapers published editorials recommending the reform of the abortion law. In 1965, the Minister of Justice, [[Guy Favreau]], wrote to Shulman that the recommendation would be considered in the program to amend the ''Criminal Code''. The eventual amendment closely followed the recommendations of the coroners' juries.<ref name="shulman" />

==== Partial de-criminalisation ====

In 1967, Justice Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] introduced a bill which included an amendment to the provision of the ''Criminal Code'' which prohibited abortions.<ref name="MorganDavies2008">{{cite book|author1=I. Morgan|author2=P. Davies|title=The Federal Nation: Perspectives on American Federalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXjHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA227|year=2008|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-61725-4|page=227}}</ref> The bill, known as the ''[[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69]]'', continued the basic prohibition on abortions, with the potential life sentence. However, the bill made an exception for abortions performed in a hospital with the approval of that hospital's three-doctor therapeutic abortion committee. The committee would have to certify that the pregnancy would be likely to endanger the life or health of the pregnant woman. The term health was not defined, and therapeutic abortion committees were free to develop their own theories as to when a likely danger to "health" (which might include psychological health) would justify a therapeutic abortion.<ref name="MorganDavies2008"/>
This same bill also legalized homosexuality and [[contraception]], and would be the subject of one of Trudeau's most famous quotations: "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation."<ref name="StettnerBurnett2017">{{cite book|author1=Shannon Stettner|author2=Kristin Burnett|author3=Travis Hay|title=Abortion: History, Politics, and Reproductive Justice after Morgentaler|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imhADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76|date=1 December 2017|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-3576-3|pages=76–}}</ref><ref name="CBC">{{cite video|title=Trudeau's Omnibus Bill: Challenging Canadian Taboos|medium=TV clip|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]|location=Canada|date=December 21, 1967|url=http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/rights_freedoms/topics/538/}}</ref>

When he introduced the bill in 1967, Trudeau was Minister of Justice in the government of Prime Minister [[Lester Pearson]]. In 1968, Pearson retired and Trudeau succeeded him as prime minister. The bill did not pass before the 1968 election, but was re-introduced by [[John Turner]], Minister of Justice in the Trudeau government. Parliament passed the bill in 1969.<ref>''Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69'', SC 1968-69, c. 38.</ref> In the 1970 federal statute revision, the provision was re-numbered as s. 251 of the ''Criminal Code''.<ref>''Criminal Code'', RSC 1970, c. C-34, s. 251.</ref>

====Badgley report====
In 1975, a Committee on the Operation of the Abortion Law was appointed "to conduct a study to determine whether the procedure provided in the Criminal Code for obtaining therapeutic abortions [was] operating equitably across Canada", and to make recommendations "on the operation of this law rather than recommendations on the underlying policy". The Committee, known as the Badgley Committee after its Chair, Dr. Robin F. Badgley,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/thestar/157302950|title=ROBIN BADGLEY Obituary - (2012) - Toronto Star|website=www.legacy.com}}</ref> reported in January 1977. It found, quite simply, that "the procedures set out for the operation of Abortion Law are not working equitably across Canada". In large part, this was because the intent of the law was neither clear nor agreed upon. Access to abortion as set out in the Criminal Code was not available for many women due to variations in distribution of hospitals and doctors, and in whether Therapeutic Abortion Committees were set up and in doctors' interpretations of "health" for women, ages of consent, and parental notification requirements. The report recommended better family planning to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, but their main conclusion was that abortion services were not being delivered as required.<ref name="dev-badgley">
{{cite book
 | title	= Abortion: Constitutional and Legal Developments, Section D: The Badgley Report
 | publisher	= Government of Canada, Law and Government Division
 | first 	= Mollie
 | last 	= Dunsmuir
 }}
</ref>

=== Difficulties in access before decriminalization ===
By 1982, there were 66,319 legal abortions in Canada.<ref name="Ann Rauhala 1987">"Abortions more difficult to obtain, groups say Women must travel, borrow for procedure." Ann Rauhala. ''The Globe and Mail.'' Toronto, Ont.: January 30, 1987. pg. A.1</ref> Interpretation of the 1969 law varied widely between doctors and hospitals, leading to uneven access. The standard was the physical or mental well-being of the woman, to be decided by a hospital's Therapeutic Abortion Committee. However, there was no requirement for a hospital to have a TAC to evaluate women. Only about one-third of hospitals had one. Some committees took a liberal stance and allowed most requests, while others blocked almost all requests. Access to legal abortions was easy in major metropolitan areas, but much harder outside large cities. In the province of [[Prince Edward Island]], the lone Therapeutic Abortion Committee shut down, and there were no legal abortions in the province after 1982.<ref name="Canada 1988">"Abortion access widely varies across Canada." Joan Bryden. ''The Ottawa Citizen.'' January 30, 1988. pg. B.6</ref> The Therapeutic Abortion Committees often took days or weeks to make their decisions, pushing a pregnancy further along than it would have been otherwise. The women were not seen by the committee, and had no right to appeal a decision. Advocates for abortion rights believed that the choice should be made by the woman, rather than a panel of doctors.<ref>"Continue clinic abortions despite law, group urges."
''The Globe and Mail.'' March 17, 1982. pg. P.8</ref>

Because of the lack of facilities in smaller provinces and rural areas, women were often forced to travel to major cities at their own expense. In [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], there was only a single gynaecologist who performed abortions. Many women had to buy expensive plane tickets to Toronto or Montreal to get an abortion.<ref name="Ann Rauhala 1987"/> Other women chose to travel to the United States, where abortions became available at many private clinics after the ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' decision in 1973. In 1982, 4,311 Canadian women travelled to the United States for an abortion.<ref name="Canada 1988"/>

=== Constitutional challenges to the abortion law ===
[[File:Henry Morgentaler (2005).png|thumb|Dr. [[Henry Morgentaler]] was an abortion-rights advocate physician who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights.]]

In defiance of the law, Dr. [[Henry Morgentaler]] began performing abortions at his clinic in Montreal without approval of a therapeutic abortion committee.<ref name="LewisDyck2001">{{cite book|author1=Nancy Lewis|author2=Isabel Dyck|author3=Sara McLafferty|title=Geographies of Women's Health: Place, Diversity and Difference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtaHDnmMQTMC&pg=PA92|year=2001|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-203-18602-2|pages=92–94}}</ref> He challenged the constitutionality of the abortion law on two separate occasions.  The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his first constitutional challenge in 1975, brought under the division of powers and the ''[[Canadian Bill of Rights]]'', but in 1988, the Supreme Court allowed his second challenge, brought under the ''[[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]]''.  The Court held that the abortion law was inoperative.  Morgentaler eventually brought a third constitutional challenge, to a provincial law restricting access to abortions.  He was successful in that challenge as well.

Morgentaler's struggle prompted a nationwide movement to reform Canada's abortion laws. In 1970, as part of the [[Abortion Caravan]], 35 women chained themselves to the parliamentary gallery in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], closing Parliament for the first time in Canadian history.<ref name="Sawer2008">{{cite book|author=Marian Sawer|title=Women's movements: flourishing or in abeyance?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zq5OCPYG9jUC&pg=PA54|access-date=November 28, 2011|date=June 24, 2008|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-46245-7|page=54}}</ref>

====First Morgentaler challenge:  1975====

In 1973, Morgentaler stated publicly that he had performed 5,000 abortions without the permission of the three-doctor committees, even going so far as to [[videotape]] himself performing operations.<ref name="Stevenson2019">{{cite book|author=Robin Stevenson|title=My Body My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5WWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT72|year=2019|publisher=Orca Book Publishers|isbn=978-1-4598-1714-2|page=72}}</ref>

The Crown prosecution service of Quebec prosecuted Morgentaler three times, and each time juries refused to convict him despite his outright admission that he had performed many abortions. The Crown appealed the first acquittal. In 1974, the [[Quebec Court of Appeal]] overturned the jury's verdict of acquittal in the first case, substituted a guilty verdict, and returned the matter to the trial judge for sentencing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/qc/qcca/doc/1974/1974canlii1369/1974canlii1369.html|title=''Regina v. Morgentaler (No. 5)'', 1974 CanLII 1369 (QC CA).}}</ref>

Morgentaler then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada on several grounds, arguing that:
* the ''Criminal Code'' provision was unconstitutional under the division of powers;
* the provision was inoperative under the ''Canadian Bill of Rights'';
* the Court of Appeal did not have the authority to overturn the jury verdict of acquittal;
* the defence of necessity was available;
* s. 45 of the ''Criminal Code'', which provided that a medical practitioner was not criminally liable for performing surgical procedures, was available as a defence.

In 1975, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal by a 6–3 decision:  [[Morgentaler v R|''Morgentaler v The Queen'']].<ref name=Morgentaler1975>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2684/index.do ''Morgentaler v The Queen'', [<nowiki>1976]</nowiki> 1 SCR 616.]</ref>  The Court was unanimous that the provision was valid criminal law, and  therefore within the constitutional authority of the federal Parliament;  it did not intrude on provincial jurisdiction over health. The Court also held unanimously that the law did not infringe the ''Canadian Bill of Rights''.<ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =Canadian Bill of Rights|abbr =SC|year =1960|chapter =44.|section =|link =https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-12.3/page-1.html}}</ref>

The Court gave those rulings from the bench, with written reasons on these points later given by Chief Justice [[Bora Laskin|Laskin]].<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2684/index.do#_ftn29 ''Morgentaler v The Queen''], pp. 624–637.</ref>  However, the Court split 6–3 on the issues of necessity and s. 45 of the ''Criminal Code'', which provided that a medical doctor who performed a surgery according to reasonable medical standards was immune from criminal liability:
* Six members of the Court, for reasons written by Justice [[Louis-Philippe Pigeon|Pigeon]], held that the ''Criminal Code'' provisions respecting Crown appeals authorised the Court of Appeal to substitute a guilty verdict.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2684/index.do#_ftn29 ''Morgentaler v The Queen''], pp. 661–670 (Pigeon), 685 (Dickson, concurring).</ref>
* Six members also held, for reasons given by Justice Pigeon and Justice [[Brian Dickson|Dickson]], that the defences of necessity and s. 45 did not apply to the criminal offence of procuring an abortion.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2684/index.do#_ftn29 ''Morgentaler v The Queen''], pp. 659–660, 671 (Pigeon), pp. 675–681 (Dickson).</ref>
* In dissent, three members of the Court, for reasons written by Chief Justice Laskin, would have held that the defences of necessity and s. 45 were available and therefore properly considered by the jury.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2684/index.do#_ftn29 ''Morgentaler v The Queen''], pp. 642–655.</ref>

As a result, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction entered by the Court of Appeal and remitted the matter to the trial judge for sentencing.  The trial judge imposed a sentence of eighteen months imprisonment.

Public outcry over the decision caused the federal government to introduce an amendment to the ''Criminal Code'' (commonly known as the Morgentaler Amendment) taking away the jurisdiction of appeal courts to substitute a conviction for a jury's verdict of acquittal.<ref>{{cite web |title=A crusader's legacy: How Henry Morgentaler changed Canada's laws |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/a-crusader-s-legacy-how-henry-morgentaler-changed-canada-s-laws-1.1369361 |website=cbc.ca}}</ref><ref>Now found in the [https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-686.html#h-130097 ''Criminal Code'', RSC 1985, c. C-46, s. 686(4)(b).]</ref>

Following the third jury acquittal, the Quebec government declared that the law was unenforceable and no further charges were brought.<ref name="Jhappan2002"/>

==== Second Morgentaler challenge:  1988 ====
Upon his release from prison in Quebec, Morgentaler decided to challenge the federal abortion law in other provinces. Over the next ten years, he opened and operated private abortion clinics across the country in direct violation of the law. Following a fourth jury acquittal in 1984, the [[Crown attorney|provincial Crown prosecution service]] appealed the decision. The Ontario Court of Appeal set aside the acquittal and ordered a re-trial.<ref name="Jhappan2002"/>

Morgentaler, in turn, appealed to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]]. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court declared in 1988 the entirety of the country's abortion law to be unconstitutional: [[R v Morgentaler|''R. v. Morgentaler'']].<ref name = Morgentaler1988>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/288/index.do ''R v Morgentaler'', [<nowiki>1988]</nowiki> 1 SCR 30.]</ref> By a 5-2 decision, the Court held that section 251 of the Criminal Code was of no force or effect because it violated [[Section Seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|section 7]] of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms''. Section 7 states that: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person, and the right not to be deprived thereof, except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." The Court also held that the infringement could not be justified under [[Section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|s. 1 of the ''Charter'']], which in some cases allows a government to provide a reasonable justification for an infringement.

There was no single majority judgment. Chief Justice Dickson, Justice Beetz, and Justice Wilson all wrote decisions finding the law to be unconstitutional, but for varying reasons in support. Justice McIntyre wrote the dissenting opinion.

Chief Justice Dickson held that "[f]orcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction, to carry a fetus to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations" infringed the woman's right to [[Section Seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms#Security of the person|security of the person]], as protected by s. 7 of the ''Charter''.<ref>''[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/288/index.do R v Morgentaler]'', p. 63.</ref> Justice Wilson found that the law "asserts that the woman's capacity to reproduce is to be subject, not to her own control, but to that of the state" which similarly breached the right to security of the person.<ref>''[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/288/index.do R v Morgentaler]'', p. 173.</ref><ref name="Jhappan2002"/>

Having found that law infringed the right to security of the person, the majority then considered whether that infringement was consistent with the principles of fundamental justice, which is the second branch of s. 7 of the ''Charter''. The judges in the majority agreed that the procedural requirements to obtain an abortion, as set forth in the law, were especially troublesome. Only accredited or approved hospitals could perform abortions, which imposed a barrier to local access. The law also specified that women wanting an abortion were required to obtain approval from a "therapeutic abortion committee" in a hospital. The committee was composed of at least three physicians appointed by the hospital's board of members, and did not include the practitioner who was to perform the procedure.<ref>''[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/288/index.do R v Morgentaler]'', pp. 65-66.</ref> The court found that the committee requirement was deeply flawed, in part because of the long delays caused by the committees and that in many hospitals, the committees were merely committees on paper and did not actually approve abortions.

Chief Justice Dickson held that "the structure – the system regulating access to therapeutic abortions – is manifestly unfair. It contains so many potential barriers to its own operation that the defence it creates will in many circumstances be practically unavailable to women who would ''prima facie'' qualify..." Noted barriers included a lack of hospitals with committees, doctors who did not wish to refer matters to committees, the lack of a standard meaning for "health" leading to inconsistent standards among committees, and geographical and financial differentials in treatment. He concluded the provision violated the principles of fundamental justice.<ref>''[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/288/index.do R v Morgentaler]'', pp. 66–72.</ref>

The majority of the court in ''Morgentaler'' did not find it necessary to consider whether there was a substantive right to abortion under Section 7. Justice [[Bertha Wilson|Wilson]] was of the opinion that such a right existed, but the other judges in the majority made their decision on procedural grounds, relating to the insufficiencies in the committee process.

===Attempts at a new law===
Following the 1988 Supreme Court decision, the Mulroney government made two attempts to enact a new abortion law.

In the spring of 1988, the government first attempted to find a compromise solution that would give easy access to abortion in the early stages of pregnancy and criminalize late term ones. The motion in the House of Commons was defeated 147 to 76, voted against by both MPs who opposed easy access to abortions and those who opposed adding any abortion rules to the Criminal Code.<ref>"Abortion motions rejected. Govt. given little help on new law." Stephen Bindman. The Ottawa Citizen. July 29, 1988. pg. A.1.FRO</ref>

The Supreme Court decision became an important issue in the [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 federal election]] later that fall. Both the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] and [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] parties were sharply divided on the issue and neither party advanced a concrete platform on the abortion issue. Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] declared he was opposed to "abortion on demand", but gave no details on what that meant legally.<ref>"Silence broken: PM is opposed to abortion on demand." Heather Bird. ''Toronto Star.'' August 3, 1988. pg. A.1</ref> Liberal leader John Turner stated that MPs should be allowed to [[Conscience vote|vote their conscience]], but refused to give his own opinion on the issue. NDP leader [[Ed Broadbent]] had a firm position that abortion is a medical matter, not a criminal one, and should be left to a woman and her doctor.<ref>"PM, Opposition leader vague on abortion law." Portia Priegert. ''The Vancouver Sun.'' October 26, 1988. pg. B.4</ref> The Mulroney government was returned in the 1988 election.

====Bill C-43 (1989–1990)====
On 3 November 1989, [[Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada|Minister of Justice]] [[Doug Lewis (politician)|Doug Lewis]] introduced Bill C-43 (titled ''An Act respecting abortion''), a much stricter bill, in the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Journals - Friday, November 3, 1989|journal=House of Commons Journals, 34th Parliament, 2nd Session |date=3 November 1989 |volume=131 |issue=1 |pages=799-800|access-date=24 September 2025|url=https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.HOC_3402_131_01/753}}</ref> If enacted, it would ban all abortions unless a doctor ruled the woman's life or health would be threatened. Anyone found in violation of the law could be imprisoned for up to two years.<ref>"Turner admits abortion bill may be 'best we can get'" Iain Hunter. ''The Ottawa Citizen.'' November 9, 1989. pg. A.1.FRO</ref> On May 29, 1990, the House of Commons passed the new bill by nine votes, with the cabinet being [[Party Whip (Canada)|whipped]] in favour and most anti-abortion members supporting it.<ref>"Abortion law passes by nine votes amid protests." Peggy Curran. ''The Gazette.'' May 30, 1990. pg. A.1.FRO</ref> Both pro-life and pro-choice advocates have voted against the bill.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gauthier |first1=Gilles |title=L'avortement redevient un crime|url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2169226 |access-date=24 September 2025 |work=La Presse |date=30 May 1990 |page=A1 |language=fr}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|+ House of Commons third reading vote<br> on Bill C-43 (''An Act respecting abortion'')<ref>{{cite journal |title=Journals - Tuesday, May 29, 1990|journal=House of Commons Journals, 34th Parliament, 2nd Session |date=29 May 1990 |volume=131 |issue=2 |pages=1770-1771 |access-date=24 September 2025|url=https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.HOC_3402_131_02/663}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2"|Party 
! width=60px|Yea 
! width=60px|Nay 
! width=60px|Abstention
! width=60px|Absent
|-
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Progressive Conservative}};" |
| align="left"| [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
| 136
| 15
| rowspan=5 {{N/A|None}}
| 13
|-
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}};" |
| align="left"|[[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]] 
| 2
| 72
| 8
|-
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|NDP}};" |
| align="left"|[[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic]]
| 0
| 42
| 1
|-
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Reform}};" |
| align="left"|[[Reform Party of Canada|Reform]]
| 0
| [[Deborah Grey|1]]
| 0
|-
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Independent}};" |
| align="left"|Independents
| 2
| [[Gilbert Chartrand|1]]
| 0
|-
!colspan=2|Total 
! 140
! 131
! 0
! 22
|}


In June 1990, a teenager from Kitchener, Ontario, was injured during a botched abortion performed in a man's home. Several days later, on June 13, a Toronto woman, Yvonne Jurewicz, died from a self-induced, coat-hanger abortion.<ref name="torstar1">
{{cite web
 | title	= Woman bleeds to death after aborting her fetus
 | author = Todd, Paula
 | newspaper	= [[Toronto Star]]
 | page=A3
 | date 	= June 13, 1990
 | url 	= https://www.proquest.com/docview/436215831
 | access-date	= 2012-12-14
 | id = {{ProQuest|436215831}}
 }}. A 20-year-old Toronto woman has died after performing an abortion on herself, probably with a coat hanger, police say. Yvonne Jurewicz of Westminster Ave. was found dead Monday night in her west-end apartment. An autopsy performed yesterday revealed Jurewicz bled to death after aborting, said Detective Sergeant Thomas Imrie, who is heading the investigation.
</ref>
These cases were reported in the news and the latter case was discussed at multiple levels of government. Speaking in the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]], [[BC NDP|New Democratic]] MLA [[Darlene Marzari]] pointed out:

<blockquote>For our purposes, though technically speaking the bill has not been proclaimed, Bill C-43 is, in the minds of the public and in the minds of women, now law. In fact, while we're dancing on the head of a pin and counting ourselves as angels, a woman in Toronto has died—she bled to death—three weeks ago. Her name was Yvonne Jurewicz, she was 20 years old and was probably afraid to go to the doctor and afraid to go to the hospital after she tried to abort herself. This is the sad fact of Bill C-43. While we debate the minor points of whether or not the Lieutenant Governor or the Governor-General of Canada has picked it up, we know that young women in this country are under the impression they will be considered criminals if they show up in an emergency ward door hemorrhaging.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hansard -- Tuesday, June 26, 1990 -- Morning Sitting |url=https://www.leg.bc.ca/content/Hansard/34th4th/34p_04s_900626a.htm#10573 |website=Legislative Assembly of British Columbia |publisher=Hansard Services |access-date=14 July 2019}}</ref></blockquote>

Reform Party MP [[Deborah Grey]], who supported the bill, denied that this death, the first known death from illegal abortion in Ontario in twenty years, could have anything to do with the publicity surrounding the passing of Bill C-43.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} But in Ontario, the connection was made. [[Richard Johnston (politician)|Richard Johnston]], [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada)|MPP]] suggested to Premier [[David Peterson]] that Ontario announce it would not start any third-party prosecutions against women or doctors, to prevent any further tragedies and to reassure doctors that they could go on providing services to the women of Ontario.<ref name="ont-hansard1">
{{cite web
 | title	= Ontario Hansard, 13 June 1990, Oral Questions, ''Abortion''
 | publisher	= Ontario Hansard
 | date 	= June 13, 1990
 | url 	= http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardECAT/34-2/L046_90-4.htm
 | access-date	= 2012-12-14
 }}
</ref>

A few months later, the bill failed in the Senate on a tie vote. Under the rules of the Constitution in Section 36 of the [[Constitution Act, 1867]], a tie meant the measure was defeated.<ref>"Bill's loss may be blessing for Tories." Joan Ramsay. ''The Ottawa Citizen.'' February 2, 1991. pg. A.7</ref> The defeat was somewhat unexpected since it was the first time since 1941 that the Senate, whose members are appointed, had outright defeated legislation passed by the House. [[Eike-Henner Kluge]], the director of the Canadian Medical Association ethics and legal affairs committee, viewed that the bill was flawed ethically. Kluge drafted an analysis for a Senate committee about Bill C-43 and his presentation may have swayed two votes to change resulting in a tie vote which resulted in the Senate not passing the Bill C-43.<sup>[[Eike-Henner Kluge#cite note-%3A0-5|[5]]]</sup>

In the wake of the controversy surrounding passage of the [[Goods and Services Tax (Canada)#Background|Goods and Services Tax]] the Progressive Conservative government did not wish to provoke a contest of wills with the Senate and announced it would not re-introduce the legislation. The fact that no subsequent government has re-visited this decision  has led to the situation of Canada having no criminal abortion law.  Abortion is now treated like any other medical procedure, governed by provincial and medical regulations.

===Later cases relating to abortion===
The court in ''Morgentaler'' did not consider the question of whether the unborn were included in the "everyone" who have the right to life. At that time, another case before the courts would have raised that issue; it was brought by [[Joe Borowski (politician)|Joe Borowski]], a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. However, after the ''Morgentaler'' decision, the Supreme Court held, in ''[[Borowski v Canada (AG)]]'', that his case was [[mootness|moot]] since ''Morgentaler'' had struck down the provisions Borowski was challenging.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/421/index.do ''Borowski v. Canada (Attorney General)'', [1989<nowiki>]</nowiki> 1 SCR 342.]</ref>

Two further cases, ''[[Tremblay v. Daigle]]''<ref name = Tremblay>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/515/index.do ''Tremblay v. Daigle'', [1989<nowiki>]</nowiki> 2 SCR 530.]</ref> and ''[[R. v. Sullivan]]'',<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/733/index.do ''R. v. Sullivan'', [1991<nowiki>]</nowiki> 1 SCR 489.]</ref> relied on the [[born alive rule]], inherited from English common law, to determine that the fetus was not a person: Sullivan could not be charged with murder of a fetus and Tremblay could not seek standing in court as the guardian of a fetus. The 1989 Supreme Court of Canada case of ''Tremblay v Daigle''<ref name =Tremblay/> is one of the most widely publicized cases concerning abortion in Canada after the law prohibiting abortions was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada. Daigle's ex-boyfriend obtained a restraining order against her having an abortion. While the restraining order was issued in [[Quebec]], it was legally restricting Canada-wide. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that only the woman could make the choice; the man had no legal say in a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy or carry it to completion.

Daigle had already had a late second-term abortion before the Court ruled on her case. While the case was fast-tracked, the progress was so slow that Daigle would have been in the [[late-term abortion|third-trimester]] had she waited for the ruling to be handed down. Daigle had an abortion in the United States while the case was before the Supreme Court of Canada. This was not made public until after the ruling, although it was not unexpected. This is in contrast to the ''Roe v. Wade'' case in the United States where Roe had carried the pregnancy to term. That case, however, was different from the ''Tremblay'' v. ''Daigle'' case in that it was about whether abortion was legal. In the ''Tremblay'' v. ''Daigle'' case, the question was whether a male partner has a say in whether a woman can obtain an abortion ruling.

Two further cases addressed the "interest in the fetus". In ''[[Dobson (Litigation Guardian of) v. Dobson]]'',<ref>[http://canlii.ca/t/1fqkz ''Dobson (Litigation Guardian of) ''v''. Dobson''], [1999] 2 S.C.R. 753.</ref> a grandfather attempted to act on behalf of a child born with cerebral palsy, supposedly resulting from a car accident in which the mother was the driver. He attempted to sue the mother with negligence in driving. The mother was in favour of the suit succeeding as it would have provided her with funds to raise her disabled child; her insurance company was defending the suit through subrogation. Citing the case of [[City of Kamloops v. Nielsen|''Kamloops v. Nielsen'']],<ref>''Kamloops v. Nielsen'', [https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2490/index.do?q=kamloops <nowiki>[1984] 2 S.C.R. 2</nowiki>].</ref> the Court decided that courts cannot impose a [[duty of care]] on a pregnant woman toward her fetus because it would interfere with the exercise of her autonomy rights during pregnancy and faced difficulty in defining a standard of care in pregnancy. Only a legislature can do this. In ''Winnipeg Child & Family Services (Northwest Area) v. G. (D.F.)'', the Supreme Court determined that a pregnant woman addicted to solvents could not be civilly committed for treatment.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1562/index.do ''Winnipeg Child & Family Services (Northwest Area) v. G. (D.F.)''], [1997] 3 SCR 925.</ref>

===Case law===
* [[Abortion trial of Emily Stowe]] (1879)
*[[Eastview Birth Control Trial]] (1936)
* ''[[Azoulay v. The Queen]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Morgentaler v. The Queen]]'' (1976)
* ''[[R. v. Morgentaler]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Borowski v Canada (AG)]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Tremblay v. Daigle]]'' (1989)
* ''[[R. v. Morgentaler]]'' (1993)

== Accessibility and methods==
{{Abortion map of Canada}}
Surgical and non-invasive [[medical abortion]]s  in Canada are provided on request for any reason, are confidential for all ages and funded by [[Medicare (Canada)|Medicare]]; to those who are covered by provincial/territorial medical care plans (depending on the province or territory, this always includes Canadian citizens and permanent residents, but may vary on inclusion of international students, workers, and protected persons or refugee claimants). For those not covered by a medical care plan (e.g. Americans in states that prohibit abortion after the decision in ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]''), the federal government has committed to letting them obtain abortions in Canada without restriction. However, this will be contingent on their being able to pay for travel costs and the procedure themselves.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2046507075976 "Canada abortion clinics will be open for Americans", CBC National, June 24, 2022.]</ref>

Nationally, abortion is legal through all nine months (40 weeks) of pregnancy,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://love4life.ca/methods/|title=Love4Life, Methods}}</ref> nevertheless no providers in Canada offer care beyond 23 weeks and 6 days.<ref name=Action/> Restrictions are  based on professional medical guidelines, resources available (equipment, trained personnel) and individual facility mandates makes access to all types of services vary by region within each province and territory.<ref name=Action/><ref name="Clinics" /><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://nafcanada.org/abortion-coverage-region/|title=Abortion Coverage by Region|website=National Abortion Federation Canada}}</ref> Each province and territory regulates and funds their own healthcare system. The federal government provides funding to each province and territory, provided they comply with the requirements of the ''Canada Health Act''.  One of those requirements is comprehensiveness, which means that all insured health services defined by the Act must be covered by a provincial or territorial health plan for that province or territory to receive federal funds.<ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =Canada Health Act|abbr =RSC|year =1985|chapter =C-6|section =9.|link =https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-6/section-9.html#h-151500}}</ref>  Abortion is not specifically mentioned in the ''Canada Health Act''.  It is simply included in the broad definition of "insured health services", just like other medical and surgical procedures.<ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =Canada Health Act|abbr =RSC|year =1985|chapter =C-6|section =2.|link =https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-6/section-2.html#h-151500}}</ref>

One-third of hospitals perform surgical abortions, and these perform two-thirds of surgical abortions in the country. The remaining surgical abortions are performed by public and private clinics.<ref name=Act>{{Cite web|url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201954E?#a3-1|title=The Canada Health Act: An Overview|website=lop.parl.ca}}</ref> Medical abortions are available in Canada using medications such as [[methotrexate]], [[misoprostol]], or [[mifepristone]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="nine"/> Mifepristone used in combination with misoprostol (brand name Mifegymiso) was approved for use in Canada when prescribed by a doctor on July 29, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=RU-486 abortion pill approved by Health Canada|publisher=CBC News|date=July 30, 2015|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ru-486-abortion-pill-approved-by-health-canada-1.3173515}}</ref> In 2017 the approval expanded to include prescribing abilities to [[nurse practitioners]], [[midwives]] and [[pharmacist]] based on provincial regulations,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/health-canada-eases-restrictions-on-abortion-pill-mifegymiso/|title=Health Canada eases restrictions on abortion pill Mifegymiso|first=Sheryl|last=Ubelacker|date=November 7, 2017|website=CTVNews}}</ref> and it may be dispensed by pharmacists directly to the patient.<ref name=nine />

Nationwide information is provided by advocacy associations such as the [[Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada]] and [[National Abortion Federation]] that maintain detailed lists of abortion clinics by province and the maximum gestational period that the clinic will provide abortion types up to.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name=Clinics/> These sites also provide information on how to obtain medication involving medical abortions, how to obtain financial support for travel/accommodation expenses, after-treatment supplies, child care and various other needs.<ref name=Clinics>{{Cite web|last=Arthur|first=Joyce|title=List of Abortion Clinics in Canada (and some hospitals)|url=https://www.arcc-cdac.ca/clinics/|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada|language=en-CA}} [https://www.arcc-cdac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/list-abortion-clinics-canada.pdf PDF]</ref><ref name="auto1"/>

=== Accessibility by province and territory===

{{sticky header}} 
{|class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi" style=text-align:center" style="margin:1em auto;" 
|+class=nowrap|There is no abortion law in Canada, but provincial and territorial health regulations<br> and professional bodies restrict the procedure to various grounds or gestational limits.<br> There are also significant disparities between rural and urban access to abortion.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name=Action/> 
|-
!Region !! |Gestational limits<ref name=Action/>!! |# of providers<ref name=Action/> !! |Notes
|-
|{{flag|Alberta}} || {{yes|20 weeks}}|| 5||The province has abortion services accessible in Edmonton and Calgary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Abortion Services|url=https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/page14011.aspx|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Alberta Health Services|language=en}}</ref> All abortion services are offered.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://myhealth.alberta.ca:443/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?Hwid=tw1040|title=Abortion|website=myhealth.alberta.ca}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|British Columbia}} || {{yes|23 weeks and 6 days}} || 24||The province is governed by the ''[[Access to Abortion Services Act (British Columbia)|Access to Abortion Services Act]]'', which limits political demonstrations outside abortion-providing facilities, doctor's offices, and doctor's homes to set distances. BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre can provide late-term abortions in Vancouver up until the 25th week of pregnancy (its CARE Program).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Abortion Services|url=http://www.bcwomens.ca/health-info/sexual-reproductive-health/abortion-services|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.bcwomens.ca|language=en-CA}}</ref> There are six abortion clinics throughout the province that can be accessed without a doctor referral and upwards of 30 hospitals that are required to perform abortions with a doctor's referral.<ref>{{Cite web|title=THE PRO-CHOICE ACTION NETWORK|url=https://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/abortioninfo/bc.shtml#hospitals|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/tw1040|title=Abortion|website=HealthLink BC}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Manitoba}} || {{yes|19 weeks and 6 days}} || 4||The province has limited access for those in rural communities. Aspiration or surgical procedures are available for up to 19 weeks and 6 days. Medical abortions up to 9 weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://womenshealthclinic.org/what-we-do/abortion/|title=Abortion &#124; Women's Health Clinic}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|New Brunswick}} ||  {{yes|16 weeks}} || 5||New Brunswick does not use public funding to pay for abortion services outside of hospital settings. This means that abortions provided in clinics are not funded by the government.<ref>{{cite news|date=26 November 2014|title=New Brunswick abortion restriction lifted by Premier Brian Gallant|publisher=CBC News|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-abortion-restriction-lifted-by-premier-brian-gallant-1.2850474|access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Newfoundland and Labrador}} || {{yes|15 weeks}} || 4||Planned Parenthood Newfoundland and Labrador is the only sexual health clinic in the province.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Clinics|url=https://www.plannedparenthoodnlshc.com/clinics.html|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Planned Parenthood - NL Sexual Health Centre|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> Full spectrum doula services.<ref name=Clinics/>

|-
|{{flag|Northwest Territories}} || {{yes|19 weeks and 6 days}} || 1||Northern Options for Women (abbreviated as NOW) provides both medical and surgical abortion services in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Northern Options for Women (NOW)|url=https://www.nthssa.ca/en/services/northern-options-women-now|access-date=2020-10-16|publisher=Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Nova Scotia}} || {{yes|16 weeks}} || 11 ||In Nova Scotia, there is an abortion clinic in Halifax or someone needing an abortion can call the abortion helpline for other options throughout the province that may be closer to them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nova Scotia Women's Choice Clinic {{!}} Nova Scotia Health Authority|url=http://www.nshealth.ca/abortion|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.nshealth.ca}}</ref>

|-
|{{flag|Nunavut}} ||  {{yes|12 weeks}} || 2|| All abortions must be performed in a hospital.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irespectmyself.ca/en/having-sex/pregnancy/abortion|title=Abortion &#124; IRespectMyself|website=www.irespectmyself.ca}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Ontario}} || {{yes|23 weeks and 6 days}} || 38 ||Intimidation of and interference with patients or providers are illegal in "safe access zones" around abortion-providing clinics and other requesting health care facilities; the offices (on request) of providing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and some other providers; and providers' homes under the ''Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017''.<ref>[https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/17s19  Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, 2017], S.O. 2017, c. 19, Sched. 1</ref> There are nine regions in Ontario where abortion is available with full spectrum doula services.<ref name=Clinics/><ref name="auto1"/>
|-
|{{flag|Prince Edward Island}} ||  {{yes|12 weeks and 6 days}} || 1||Prince Edward Island offers in province abortions up until 12 weeks and 6 days pregnant. After that limit, an out of province surgical abortion would have to be performed. A referral must be obtained through a PEI physician prior to any surgical procedure.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-31|title=Abortion Services|url=https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/health-pei/abortion-services|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.princeedwardisland.ca}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Quebec}} || {{yes|23 weeks and 6 days}} || 49||The province has a multitude of options for abortion access.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-system-and-services/service-organization/abortion-services/|title=Abortion services|website=www.quebec.ca}}</ref> Historically, late-term abortions (beyond 30 weeks) had to be performed in the US with all expenses paid by the Quebec government. This changed in 2020 because of Covid travel restrictions.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/08/03/des-avortements-tardifs-faits-au-quebec-a-cause-de-la-covid | title=Des avortements tardifs faits au Québec à cause de la COVID | date=August 3, 2021 }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Saskatchewan}} ||  {{yes|18 weeks and 6 days}} || 3||Few resources available to those in rural areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rqhealth.ca/department/womens-health-centre/abortion-services|title=Abortion Services|website=www.rqhealth.ca}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Yukon}} || {{yes|12 weeks and 6 days}} || 1 ||[[Whitehorse General Hospital]] is the only location in Yukon available for both medical and early aspiration abortions.<ref name=Clinics/><ref name="auto1"/>

|}

==Politics==
As of 2024, all federally represented [[political parties in Canada]], as well as their leaders, support continued legal abortion access in Canada. While elected members of the [[Bloc Québécois]], [[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]], the Liberal Party of Canada, and the [[Green Party of Canada]] nearly universally support [[abortion rights]] and all these parties' MPs would be expected to vote against any hypothetical Bills that would restrict or limit abortion rights in any way,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/anti-abortion-candidates-need-not-apply-in-2015-justin-trudeau-says-1 | title = Anti-abortion Candidates need not apply | publisher = MSN | access-date = 2014-06-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140530235918/http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/anti-abortion-candidates-need-not-apply-in-2015-justin-trudeau-says-1 | archive-date = May 30, 2014 | url-status = dead }}</ref> the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] has both members who favour abortion rights and members who oppose them and has stated that members would be allowed to vote their conscience on any vote concerning abortion. In the past, more Conservative members have been against abortion.

The Conservative Party has had to wrestle with combining the conflicting social policies of its two predecessor parties, the moderate right-wing Progressive Conservative Party and the more right-wing [[Canadian Alliance]], which merged in 2003. Many [[social conservatism|socially conservative]] Alliance supporters were angered at the prospect of [[Belinda Stronach]], who favoured abortion rights, winning the [[2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election|leadership election]] in early 2004, while in contrast, some Progressive Conservative supporters objected during the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 federal election]] to the new party's perceived openness to legislation that would restrict abortion rights. In the March 2005 policy convention, in a narrow vote, the party voted to not introduce legislation on the subject of abortion (members can still introduce [[private members bill]]s on the issue), although it condemns sex-selective abortions.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021|title=Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration|url=https://cpcassets.conservative.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/04094452/d1effca7a5c8818.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511210649/https://cpcassets.conservative.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/04094452/d1effca7a5c8818.pdf |archive-date=May 11, 2021 }}</ref> The party's stance on abortion is frequently voted on at the party's policy conventions. [[Motion 312]] was introduced by Conservative MP [[Stephen Woodworth (politician)|Stephen Woodworth]] in 2012, calling for a House of Commons committee to determine when human life begins, but was defeated 203–91.<ref>{{cite web|title=Motion 312: How MPs And Ministers Voted|date=September 27, 2012 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/27/motion-312-votes-conservatives-mps-ministers_n_1918856.html|access-date=2012-10-02|publisher=The [[Huffington Post]] Canada}}</ref> In 2013, Conservative MP [[Mark Warawa]] introduced a motion condemning discrimination against females through sex-selective abortion.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 5, 2012|title=MP's motion on sex selection stirs abortion debate|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mp-s-motion-on-sex-selection-stirs-abortion-debate-1.1188154|access-date=December 22, 2021}}</ref> In 2021, Conservative [[Cathay Wagantall]] introduced a private member's bill that would prohibit a medical practitioner from performing a sex-selective abortion. Although the bill was defeated 248-82, a majority of Conservative MPs voted in favour of the bill.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Stephanie|date=2021-06-02|title=Majority of Conservative MPs vote in favour of defeated sex-selective abortion bill|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/majority-of-conservative-mps-vote-in-favour-of-defeated-sex-selective-abortion-bill/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=CTVNews|language=en}}</ref>

Until recently, the Liberal Party had a few anti-abortion MPs, such as Liberal MP [[Paul Steckle]] introduced a bill that would have made abortion after 20 weeks gestation a criminal act in June 2006.<ref>LEGISinfo, Bill C-338, [[39th Canadian Parliament|39th Parliament]], 1st Session, [http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&Session=14&query=4806&List=toc Parl.gc.ca] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714181411/http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&Session=14&query=4806&List=toc|date=July 14, 2006}}, Accessed September 29, 2006.</ref> Former Liberal Leader [[Justin Trudeau]] required that all Liberal party candidates will have to vote according to the party's abortion-rights policy when he assumed leadership of the Liberal Party in 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mas|first=Susana|date=28 November 2014|title=Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-says-filomena-tassi-agreed-to-vote-pro-choice-if-elected-in-2015-1.2854248|access-date=12 September 2020}}</ref>

Although the issue of abortion rights has popped up from time to time in federal elections as a [[wedge issue]], the issue is consistently rated as a low priority for most Canadians. The [[Christian Heritage Party of Canada]] claims to be Canada's only stated anti-abortion federal political party and supports a total abortion ban in Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pro-Life |first=Vote |title=Vote Pro-Life |url=https://www.voteprolife.ca/party-policy-comparison/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=www.voteprolife.ca |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-09 |title=Christian Heritage Party highlights abortion issue |url=https://www.westernwheel.ca/local-news/christian-heritage-party-highlights-abortion-issue-1530920 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=Western Wheel |language=en}}</ref> However, they never had a member elected to parliament and won about only 0.05% of the vote in the [[2021 Canadian federal election]]. The [[People's Party of Canada]] supported banning abortion in Canada after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for cases in which the life of the pregnant individual is in danger, serious fetal abnormalities, and when the pregnancy is a result of rape.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Baxter |first=Dave |date=May 17, 2023 |title='WE'RE NOT AFRAID': PPC would ban some abortions, Bernier announces |url=https://winnipegsun.com/news/provincial/were-not-afraid-ppc-would-ban-some-abortions-bernier-announces |access-date=May 2, 2024 |work=The Winnipeg Sun}}</ref> In 2025, the party further supported significant abortion restrictions after the first trimester.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-16 |title=PPC Leader Maxime Bernier pitches Red Deer conservatives |url=https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/home/ppc-leader-maxime-bernier-pitches-red-deer-conservatives-7949957 |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Red Deer Advocate |language=en}}</ref>

On October 19, 2012, anti-abortion protester Patricia Maloney expressed concern over 491 cases of live-birth abortions between 2000 and 2009. The finding reported to [[Statistics Canada]] did not include detailed information on how long each fetus survived after removal or how many would have been possible to save. Canada, [[Born-Alive Infants Protection Act|unlike the United States]], does not specifically have a law confirming or denying the legal rights of a baby who survives abortion. On January 23, 2013, Conservative MPs [[Wladyslaw Lizon]], [[Leon Benoit]], and [[Maurice Vellacott]] wrote a letter requesting that the RCMP investigate how many of the 491 live-birth abortions meet the definition of homicide set forth in the Criminal Code.<ref name="cbc"/><ref name="national-post" /> When CBC and The Canadian Press used the phrase "investigate all abortions performed after 19 weeks gestation", Vellacott accused the media outlets of false reporting and acknowledged that abortion in Canada is fully legal.<ref name="vellacott">{{cite web|url=http://www.leonbenoit.ca/media/Letter%20to%20RCMP%20commissioner%20to%20investigate%20born%20alive%20babies+Correction.pdf|title=Letter to RCMP commissioner to investigate born alive babies|first=Maurice|last=Vellacott|date=January 23, 2013|access-date=2013-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006040739/http://leonbenoit.ca/media/Letter%20to%20RCMP%20commissioner%20to%20investigate%20born%20alive%20babies+Correction.pdf|archive-date=October 6, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The CBC / Canadian Press story was subsequently corrected.<ref name="cbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/investigate-some-abortions-as-homicides-tory-mps-ask-rcmp-1.1322173|title=Investigate some abortions as homicides, Tory MPS ask RCMP|author=The Canadian Press|publisher=CBC|date=January 31, 2013|access-date=2013-05-26}}</ref> The move drew approval from Dr. Eike-Henner Kluge, former director of ethics and legal affairs for the [[Canadian Medical Association]], who said that doctors should "do the best [they] can for what is now a person in the eyes of the law". However, Dr. Douglas Black, president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said that the situation is not one of homicide, but rather allowing fetuses "to pass away, depending on what the circumstances are, sometimes in their mom's arms".<ref name="national-post">{{cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/born-alive-dead-in-moments-grey-zone-of-live-birth-abortions-a-deep-divide-between-mps-and-physicians|title=Birth of a legal quandry[sic]: Live-birth abortions a perilous grey zone in Canada's criminal code|first=Hopper|last=Tristin|publisher=[[The National Post]]|date=February 1, 2013|access-date=2013-05-26}}</ref>

==Opinion polls==<!-- This section is linked from Abortion -->
{{Main|Societal attitudes towards abortion}}
* In a March 2010 [[EKOS Research Associates|EKOS]] poll, a majority of Canadians (52%) describe themselves as "pro-choice" while just over one in four (27%) describe themselves as "[[pro-life]]". One in ten respondents (10%) describe themselves as neither "pro-choice" nor "pro-life", and 11% did not respond.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/full_report_april_11.pdf |access-date=2010-05-03 |date=April 1, 2010 |title=Canadians Decisively Pro-Choice on Abortion |author=EKOS Research Associates | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100415023745/http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/full_report_april_11.pdf| archive-date= April 15, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>
*In an IPSOS poll conducted in 2017, 77% said abortions should be permitted, which is higher than the global average of 71%.<ref name="Ispos2017">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/majority-continue-support-abortion-canada|title=Majority Continue to Support (77%) Abortion in Canada, But Behind Sweden (87%), Belgium (87%) and France (86%)|website=Ipsos|language=en-ca|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> A majority of Canadians (53%) said abortion should be permitted whenever a woman decides she wants to abort, while 24% favoured access under only some circumstances, such as when a woman has been raped.<ref name="Ispos2017"/> A further 7% believed that abortion should only be permitted when a woman's life is in danger, and 5% believed the procedure should be illegal under any circumstance; 11% said they were unsure.<ref name="Ispos2017"/>
*In a 2020 DART & Maru/Blue Voice Canada poll, 75% of Canadians said they were “satisfied” with Canada's abortion policies and 25% were not satisfied.<ref name=NatPostDART2020>{{Cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/as-abortion-debate-becomes-increasingly-polarized-poll-shows-the-views-of-many-canadians-are-more-complicated|title=As abortion debate becomes increasingly polarized, poll shows the views of many Canadians are more complicated {{!}} National Post|last=Kirkey|first=Sharon|date=2020-01-31|website=National Post|language=en-CA|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> The strongest satisfaction was found in Québec (85%), followed by British Columbia (75%), Ontario (72%), Alberta (70%), Atlantic Canada (68%), and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (70%).<ref name=DART2020>{{cite web |last1=DART & Maru/Blue |title=Abortion: A Canadian Public Perspective After Three Decades. A DART & Maru/Blue Voice Canada Pol |url=https://dartincom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PostMedia-Abortion-Feb-F-1-2020.pdf |publisher=DART Insight and Communications |access-date=31 August 2020 |date=February 1, 2020}}</ref> Satisfaction with Canada's policies were nearly identical across gender and age groups, with slightly higher favourability amongst middle and high-income Canadians as compared with those earning less than CDN$50,000 (78% vs. 74%).<ref name=DART2020/> In the poll, 71% of Canadians said that the government should not re-open the issue, and just 10% said they should re-open it; 8% professed indifference.<ref name=DART2020/> Canadians were almost equally split on whether they thought the government should even discuss creating a regulatory framework for abortion.<ref name=DART2020/> 70% of Canadians said they found abortion acceptable, vs. 10% who found it unacceptable; 11% professed indifference, and 10% said they didn't know.<ref name=DART2020/> 
*In a 2020 IPSOS poll, support for abortion rights were slightly stronger than in 2017: 59% of Canadians said that abortion should be permitted whenever a woman wants one, with 18% saying it should only be permitted under limited circumstances (such as after rape), and 6% saying it should only be legal if the mother's life were in danger; just 4% said it should not be legal under any circumstances, while 13% either said they didn't know or that they preferred not to express an opinion.<ref name="IPSOS2020">{{cite web |last1=Ipsos |title=Globally, seven in ten adults favor allowing abortion |url=https://www.ipsos.com/en/globally-seven-ten-adults-favor-allowing-abortion |publisher=IPSOS |access-date=31 August 2020 |date=August 17, 2020}}</ref>
*A 2022 poll by Research Co found that 44% of Canadians believe that abortion should be legal under any circumstances, 37% think that abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances, and 10% think that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Support for legal abortion under any circumstances was highest in Quebec (50%), then Saskatchewan and Manitoba (47%), British Columbia (46%), the Maritime provinces (43%), Alberta (40%), and Ontario (39%). Support for legal abortion under any circumstances was highest among self-identified NDP voters (57%), followed by Liberal voters (48%), and Conservative voters (32%).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canseco |first=Mario |date=2022-05-09 |title=Most Canadians Reluctant to Re-Open Debate on Abortion |url=https://researchco.ca/2022/05/09/abortion-canada/ |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Research Co. |language=en-US}}</ref>
*A 2022 poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that 52% of Canadians describe themselves as being completely pro-choice, while 8% describe themselves as being completely pro-life, and 41% describe themselves as being somewhere in between these two positions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Korzinski |first=David |date=2022-11-24 |title='Pro-Choice' or 'Pro-Life'? In a debate often lacking nuance, 41% of Canadians are 'somewhere in between' |url=https://angusreid.org/abortion-canada-faith-pro-choice-pro-life/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Angus Reid Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Abortion rights movement==
The [[abortion rights movement]] in Canada focuses on establishing abortion as a component of provincial health care plans, to ensure it is available in all regions, especially for those who couldn't afford it otherwise.

Dr. Henry Morgentaler was widely seen as the one individual personifying the Canadian abortion rights movement, but organizations such as the [[Canadian Abortion Rights Action League]] (CARAL), [[Canadians for Choice]], and the [[Pro-Choice Action Network]] also contributed significantly to advancing the abortion rights movement in Canada. CARAL folded, and was replaced by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, whose focus is on the objectives mentioned above. [[Feminist]] or [[pro-feminism]] organizations also contribute to promote the abortion rights approach.

The Canadian affiliate of [[Planned Parenthood]], now known as the [[Canadian Federation for Sexual Health]], is also in favour of abortion rights, and while it does refer pregnant women to abortion providers, it does not have a history (unlike its American counterpart) of engaging in widespread litigation in favour of legalized abortion.

==Anti-abortion movement==
[[File:Anti-abortion ad on truck. Vancouver.jpg|thumb|Anti-abortion ad on a truck in [[Vancouver, BC|Vancouver, British Columbia]]]]
The [[anti-abortion movement]], which self-identifies as the pro-life movement, disapproves of the lack of legal restrictions on abortion in Canada and of abortions being funded by provincial health care programs,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clcns.com/taxfunding.htm |title=CLCNS.com |publisher=CLCNS.com |access-date=2011-03-10 |archive-date=September 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926170654/http://www.clcns.com/taxfunding.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> even if the abortion is not for therapeutic reasons. A medical reason for obtaining an abortion is no longer required in Canada since the 1988 decision of the Supreme Court finding that the abortion provisions of the ''Criminal Code'' were unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3209&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2#1 |title=Therapeutic Abortion Survey 2006 |publisher=Statcan.gc.ca |date=August 21, 2009 |access-date=2011-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abortionincanada.ca/funding/index.html#medicallynecessary |title=Abortionincanada.ca |publisher=Abortionincanada.ca |access-date=2011-03-10}}</ref>

The anti-abortion movement in Canada is represented by the [[Catholicism|Catholic Church]], [[Pro-Life Alberta Political Association|Prolife Alberta]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prolifealberta.com/about/|title=Home|website=Prolife Alberta|date=January 20, 2015 }}</ref> The Wilberforce Project,<ref>{{cite web|author=Sites For Life - www.sitesforlife.com |url=http://www.albertaprolife.com/ |title=Albertaprolife.com |publisher=Albertaprolife.com |access-date=2011-03-10| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110203104403/http://www.albertaprolife.com/| archive-date= February 3, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> [[Campaign Life Coalition]], [[REAL Women of Canada]], We Need A Law,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://weneedalaw.ca/|title=Home|website=We Need A Law}}</ref> Abortion in Canada,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abortionincanada.ca/ |title=AbortionInCanada.ca |publisher=AbortionInCanada.ca |access-date=2011-03-10}}</ref> Action Life (Ottawa), Inc.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.actionlife.org/ |title=Actionlife.org |publisher=Actionlife.org |access-date=2011-03-10}}</ref> among other organizations. Anti-abortion rallies or Marches for Life occur annually in Ottawa and in some provincial capitals, drawing thousands of people,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-05-10|title=Thousands attend March for Life downtown|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/thousands-attend-march-for-life-downtown/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Ottawa|language=en}}</ref> although many of these marches were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

==Violence towards abortion providers==
{{Further|Abortion related violence}}

* In 1983, Henry Morgentaler was attacked by a man wielding garden shears; the attack was blocked by feminist activist [[Judy Rebick]], who was standing nearby.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7735 |title=Vueweekly.com |publisher=Vueweekly.com |date=January 23, 2008 |access-date=2011-03-10 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104135312/http://vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7735 |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}</ref>
* In 1992, Morgentaler's [[Toronto]] clinic was firebombed and sustained severe damage. The event occurred at night, so no one was injured, although a nearby bookstore was damaged. Appointments were switched to another clinic in Toronto and no abortions were prevented.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/abortion-rights-significant-moments-in-canadian-history-1.787212 |title=CBC.ca |publisher=CBC.ca |date=May 21, 2009 |access-date=2011-03-10 |archive-date=January 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120045649/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/01/13/f-abortion-timeline.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* On November 8, 1994, [[Vancouver]] doctor Garson Romalis was shot in the leg.<ref name="rt">"{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120529171102/http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_viol.htm Violence and harassment at U.S. abortion clinics]}}." ''ReligiousTolerance.org''.</ref>
* On November 10, 1995, Dr. Hugh Short of [[Ancaster, Ontario]], was shot in the elbow.<ref name="rt" />
* On November 11, 1997, Dr. Jack Fainman of [[Winnipeg]] was shot in the shoulder.<ref name="rt" />
* On July 11, 2000, Dr. Garson Romalis was stabbed by an unidentified assailant in the lobby of his clinic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/831489.stm |title=AMERICAS &#124; Canada abortion doctor stabbed |work=BBC News |date=July 13, 2000 |access-date=2011-03-10}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|border=no|Canada|Feminism}}
*[[Abortion law|Abortion laws by country]]
* [[Abortion debate]]
* [[Abortion-rights movements]]
* [[Anti-abortion movement]]
*[[Feminism in Canada]]
*[[History of Canadian women]]
* [[Human rights in Canada]]
*[[Women's suffrage in Canada]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|author=Rachael Johnstone|title=After Morgentaler: The Politics of Abortion in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-EyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|date=15 September 2017|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-3441-4}}
*{{cite book|author=Raymond Tatalovich|title=The Politics of Abortion in the United States and Canada: A Comparative Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kphzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|date=20 May 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-45538-7}}
*{{cite book|author=Shannon Stettner|title=Without Apology: Writings on Abortion in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Po_lDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|date=26 August 2016|publisher=Athabasca University Press|isbn=978-1-77199-159-9}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* Richer, Karine. [https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.565953/publication.html Abortion in Canada: Twenty years after ''R. v. Morgentaler'']. Parliament of Canada, Law and Government Division. PRB-08-22E.
*[https://www.arcc-cdac.ca/clinics/ List of abortion clinics in Canada] at the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada
*[https://nafcanada.org/abortion-coverage-region/ List of abortion clinics in Canada] at the National Abortion Federation

{{Abortion in North America}}
{{Abortion}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada, Abortion in}}
[[Category:Abortion in Canada| ]]
[[Category:Health law in Canada]]
[[Category:History of human rights in Canada|Abortion]]
[[Category:Women in Canada]]
[[Category:Abortion by country]]
[[Category:History of medicine in Canada]]