Is Anybody Actually Listening to Us?

Gender 305 Gender and International Human Rights

Abortion remains a subject often discussed at the policy level and within activist channels in addition to being debated in public spaces by citizens more generally. Developments in abortion politics worldwide have material consequences for the lives of many people and with pressing health concerns that threaten the lives of women at the heart of the discourse. Additionally, the recent overruling of the Roe v. Wade decision in the United States has, in some ways, reinvigorated public and activist interest here in Canada, acting as a reminder that the current state of affairs is not necessarily static or fixed. We feel that both pro-choice activism and anti-choice campaigns have become emboldened by the Supreme Court decision and subsequent conversations being had by our neighbors in the United States and, as such, the topic is of particular relevance today.

We believe it is necessary to think about abortion beyond the medical/biological ethics deliberation, where the status of personhood and developmental cutoffs are key, and consider additionally how the restriction of abortion is a violation of women’s fundamental freedom and body autonomy. As such, the issue of abortion should be considered with gender sensitivity. This kind of framing, we argue, is a better encapsulation of the issue at hand because it rightfully recognizes women’s lives and bodies as relevant areas of discussion. Articulating this argument using course material and real-world examples will be key for our podcast. Abortion restriction has always been a gendered issue in that it is a form of discrimination against women. Threats to reproductive freedom include policy decisions as well as accessibility concerns, should abortion be theoretically legal but not accessible in any given location or for certain demographics. Reproductive and sexual rights as human rights is part of the gender mainstreaming effort in the United Nations and are entangled with other areas of interest within women’s rights, such as economic opportunity, social participation, and the issue of violence against women. We will argue that restrictions on abortion are largely about having control over women’s bodies and freedom of self-determination, something that has been present throughout history, with ongoing implications for women today.

As a group, we explore the relationship between international human rights bodies, national governance, and local organizing as they might contribute to abortion attitudes and realities for women. We’d like to identify why and in what ways there is a disparity in abortion access (or indeed policy) within Canada and discuss the implications of this. We’d also like to outline for our listeners how the issue of securing reproductive rights for women is deeply interconnected with other human rights that are named in CEDAW and other human rights treaties.

References:

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada website: https://www.arcc-cdac.ca/

Island Sexual Health webpage about abortion: https://www.islandsexualhealth.org/pregnancy/abortion/

Vancouver Island Women’s Clinic website: https://www.viwc.ca/abortions

The Abortion Diary podcast by Melissa Madera

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, a book by Dorothy Roberts: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/229445

No Choice: The 30-Year Fight for Abortion on Prince Edward Island, a book by Kate McKenna