Alberta premier responds to pro-choice concerns as U.S. may overturn Roe v. Wade

Pro-choice groups in Alberta and across Canada are suggesting there could be implications here as a result of what’s happening with Roe v. Wade in the U.S.

However, Premier Jason Kenney disagrees with that assessment in an exclusive interview with CityNews.

“It doesn’t have implications for Canada or Alberta. This is a question about a potential court decision in a foreign country and every one of the 187 countries around the world have different legal and policy settings with respect to abortion, we have our own in Canada,” Kenney said.

“Nobody is proposing a change in policy here, and I would just say I’m not going to comment on U.S. legal decisions, I don’t comment on Japanese or British or French legal decisions. We have our own laws, our own courts. I fully expect that there will be some Canadians offering their opinions on what’s happening in the U.S., but I don’t see it having any policy implications in Alberta or in Canada.”

Related Article: Liberals looking at Canada Health Act to ensure abortion right protected: Trudeau

Several members of the UCP, including the Health Minister and the Premier, have repeatedly said that despite possible changes in the U.S., no changes are expected in Canada or Alberta specifically.

“People in Alberta right now are a little uncertain, a little afraid,” said Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson, founder of Alberta Abortion Access Network.

“I can sense a definite fear that what happened back [in the U.S.] is about to happen or can happen up here, and what people don’t realize is it’s already happening up here. We have tons of people, especially in Alberta, who cannot access abortion care.”

Before being elected premier, Kenney said while he is pro-life he would not legislate against abortion or limit access to those services.

He tells CityNews he stands by that.

“Look, we’ve been in office for three years, there have been no policy changes and there will be no policy changes. We’re talking here about a potential foreign court decision in an area that would fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government in Ottawa.

So, this is a federal question. The Roe [v. Wade] case is a U.S. issue and none of this has implications for Alberta.”

Related Article: ‘We are going backward’: U.S. abortion debate worries Canadian advocate

But abortion access advocates say they’re still worried.

“I certainly don’t trust Jason Kenney because of his long anti-choice history, and I don’t think people change their stripes that easily,” said Joyce Arthur, Executive Director of Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

“It’s very easy for him to say that because what he’s essentially saying is things are going to stay the same, and the same right now is that people can’t access abortion very easily in Alberta,” Reinhardt-Simpson added.

“So, for him, he can say that and still get what he wants, which is essentially a province in which people can’t access this care.”

Related Article: No changes coming to Alberta abortion, birth control access: UCP

Access to abortion services is decriminalized in Canada, and abortion laws are made at a federal level.

Provinces are required to provide access to health services, which include allowing people to seek birth control and abortions, under the Canada Health Act.

Meanwhile, the Q1 political fundraising numbers have come out and they show the NDP in the first slot with $1,037,511.32 raised and the UCP in the second spot with $887,974.49 raised.

In third place is the Alberta Pro-Life Party which generated $67,564.93, which is almost as much as the next four parties combined.

Reinhardt-Simpson says there is a lot of Conservative money being funneled from the States into pro-life groups in Canada.

Ruling on the American case is expected by early July.