Saskatoon health advocate saddened after Roe v. Wade overturned

A Saskatchewan sexual health advocate said she’s saddened by the news that Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the United States Supreme Court.

Heather Hale, executive director of Saskatoon Sexual Health, said she has heard comments from many people who feel the same as she does — saddened, but not surprised.

“My heart is with … the folks who continue to do this work,” she said Friday. “We’re in solidarity with our colleagues in the United States.”

After a draft decision was leaked earlier this year indicating the long-standing, landmark abortion decision would be overturned, Hale said she expected to see this outcome.

“We know that a ban on abortion doesn’t mean that abortions are over, it just means a ban on safe abortions,” Hale said.

While she noted that Canada and Saskatchewan function under a different framework than the United States and abortion continues to be legal here, she said the issue is part of a transnational movement.

“These issues don’t stop at the border,” Hale said.

Saskatchewan allows for legal abortions, but access continues to be difficult in many cases, Hale noted.

“There still (are) persistent barriers to the availability and the access of abortion in Saskatchewan,” she said.

Those barriers, Hake said, can take the form of issues with referrals, access to family doctors, travel and geography issues, and different gestational timelines in different areas of the province.

Seeing a growing number of people who are against preserving the ability for people to have safe abortions in Canada, Hale said it’s important to monitor these issues and continue to encourage government to work towards protecting and enshrining abortion as a right.

“Reproductive justice intersects with so many other struggles,” Hale said, emphasizing the importance of not just the right to have a child but to choose when to have a child and to be supported in a safe community while doing so.

Hale encouraged the public to continue reaching out to political leaders with their concerns and opinions over access to safe abortions in Saskatchewan.

She also encouraged donations to organizations like Saskatoon Sexual Health, Planned Parenthood Regina, OUTSaskatoon and TransSask Support Services.

Hale said she wants to see Health Canada and other organizations continue to share information to stem the tide of misinformation about abortion.

She also encouraged people to share their own stories, to keep abortion from being a secretive issue.