Table Of ContentThe Politics of Abortion in Canada After Morgentaler: Women’s Rights as Citizenship Rights
by
Rachael Elizabeth Grace Johnstone
A thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in the Department of Political Studies
in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
November, 2012
Copyright © Rachael Elizabeth Grace Johnstone, 2012
Abstract
This dissertation explores the regulation of abortion in Canada following the landmark R
v Morgentaler decision (1988), which struck down Canada’s existing abortion law, causing the
procedure’s subsequent reclassification as a healthcare issue. The resulting fragility of abortion
rights is still evident in the varying provincial regulations governing the nature of access to the
procedure. While access has been accepted as the new terrain of abortion rights, research into
this area to date has taken a largely national focus, surveying provincial barriers and compiling
lists of potential motivations for differences in service. This dissertation builds on this work
through the use of specific case studies of provinces representative of a spectrum of access in
Canada – New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Through the use of original interview data,
these cases are compared and contrasted on previously enumerated grounds believed to have an
influence on the treatment of abortion. By isolating the impact of specific processes responsible
for the regulation of abortion, through research into its treatment in politics, law, medicine, and
public discourse, this study endeavours to offer a more nuanced explanation for varying levels of
provincial access to abortion services. Ultimately it finds that a province’s social climate,
characterized by attitudes towards the ongoing rights versus morality debate championed by pro-
and anti-choice social movements, has had the greatest impact in shaping public perceptions of
the procedure. These attitudes in turn have a profound effect on the nature of provincial access.
Using a citizenship framework grounded in social reproduction, which understands anti-
abortion politics as elements of backlash against progressive advances in women’s citizenship,
this dissertation argues for the need to understand abortion as a right of women’s citizenship to
address the precarious treatment of abortion services. Recognition of women’s unique
reproductive abilities through a citizenship paradigm is necessary before women can hope to
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achieve equality. Only when abortion is entrenched as a right of citizenship and this
understanding of the procedure is embedded in social perceptions, can women not only be
treated as equal citizens, but also understand themselves to be equal citizens.
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Abigail Bakan for her
support and guidance during my time at Queen’s. I have always found our discussions
enlightening and am grateful for her constant encouragement.
I must also thank the faculty and staff of the Political Studies Department, whose advice,
assistance, and welcoming attitudes helped me through this process. I would like to specifically
thank Margaret Little, Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, Janet Hiebert, and Jonathan Rose.
Additionally, I want to acknowledge Barb Murphy, Frances Shepherd, Dianne Flint, Jennifer
Falle, Jeananne Vickery, Amelia Pont-Viveiros, Micheline Boomhour, and Karen Vandermey. I
would also like to thank the purveyors of the Graduate Dean’s Travel Grant for Doctoral Field
Research for supporting me in my research.
Life in the Department would not have been the same without my friends and colleagues,
with whom I shared countless entertaining conversations. I would like to acknowledge Megan
Gaucher, Lucia Salazar, Erin Tolley, Aaron Ettinger, Andrea Collins, Beesan Sarrouh, Erin
Clow, Jessie Lindley, Victoria Tait, Emmett MacFarlane, Anna Drake, Charan Rainford,
Adrienne Koning, Iain Reeve, and Sara Pavan for providing an invaluable support network. I
would also like to thank my longtime friend and officemate Chris Samuel.
I would be remiss if I did not thank Angela Pietrobon for her wonderful work editing my
thesis. I am also grateful to Joanne Wright, whose guidance and encouragement helped convince
me to pursue my doctorate in the first place.
I cannot forget to thank the Chevriers, my second family, for their lifelong love and
encouragement, especially Sara Dunton, for her comradery throughout this degree.
I would like to thank my parents, Lowell and Raylene Johnstone, and my brother, Robert
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Johnstone, for their endless love and support. They endured many late nights and plenty of stress
on my behalf in helping me to get here, for which I am eternally grateful. Finally, I must thank
my partner, Christopher Bennett, not only for his love and support, but for making the final leg
of this experience a truly happy one.
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Dedication
For my parents, Lowell and Raylene Johnstone, who, when I said I was going to study feminism
instead of medicine, said “Great!” And, when Gender and Politics led me to the study of abortion
access, said “Wonderful!” Thank you for talking about my work with pride no matter how
awkward dinner party conversations became. I love you both more than I could ever express.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv
Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... vi
Glossary of Acronyms .................................................................................................................... x
Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
Abortion as a Right of Citizenship ............................................................................................. 4
Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 10
Case Studies .............................................................................................................................. 11
Mixed-Method Approach: Documents and Interviews ............................................................ 14
Difficulties Accessing Information ........................................................................................... 20
Chapter Outlines ....................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 2. Rights, Morality, and Abortion Access in Canada ...................................................... 26
The Moral and Rights Frames .................................................................................................. 26
Necessary Essentialism: Addressing Issues of Intersectionality in Body Politics .................... 33
Abortion Access in Canada: The Literature ............................................................................. 36
Original Contributions .............................................................................................................. 39
Chapter 3. “Fragile, Incomplete, and Contradictory”: Abortion in Canadian Federal Politics and
the Courts ...................................................................................................................................... 42
Law and Politics: Abortion Regulation Before 1988 ................................................................ 46
Dr. Henry Morgentaler ............................................................................................................. 50
Expanding Westward ............................................................................................................ 56
R v Morgentaler (1988) ......................................................................................................... 57
The Mulroney Administration .................................................................................................. 60
Testing the Limits of the Morgentaler Decision (1988) ........................................................... 62
Borowski ................................................................................................................................... 65
Bill C-43 ................................................................................................................................... 67
Pro-Choice Caucus ................................................................................................................... 70
The Harper Administration ....................................................................................................... 73
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 78
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Chapter 4. Political and Legal Responses to R v Morgentaler (1988) in the Provinces: Along a
Spectrum of Citizenship ................................................................................................................ 80
New Brunswick: Falling off the Spectrum ............................................................................... 83
Ontario: Citizenship Rights on Precarious Ground .................................................................. 97
Quebec: Women as Equal Citizens ......................................................................................... 102
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 110
Chapter 5. The Courts in Context: the Case of Abortion Rights in Canada ............................... 113
Feminist Legal Scholarship .................................................................................................... 115
Abortion in the Courts Before the Charter .............................................................................. 119
R v Morgentaler (1988) .......................................................................................................... 121
Testing the Limits of the Morgentaler Decision: Maternal, Paternal, and Fetal Rights ......... 124
Provincial Access .................................................................................................................... 128
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 134
Chapter 6. It’s Pro-Choice or No-Choice: Social Movement Activism in a Policy Vacuum ..... 137
Social Consensus and Social Movements: Views on Abortion in Canada ............................. 140
Silence in New Brunswick ...................................................................................................... 143
Ambivalence in Ontario .......................................................................................................... 150
Pro-Choice Quebec ................................................................................................................. 155
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 159
Chapter 7. Abortion in Medicine ................................................................................................ 162
The Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 166
The Organization of Physicians and Health Insurance in Canada .......................................... 168
Case Studies: Provincial Overlap in Service Provision .......................................................... 175
Facilities .............................................................................................................................. 175
Clinics ............................................................................................................................. 176
Crisis Pregnancy Centres ................................................................................................ 182
Hospitals ......................................................................................................................... 184
Training Future Providers ................................................................................................... 188
New Brunswick: Medically Unnecessary ............................................................................... 190
Ontario: High Levels of Service ............................................................................................. 195
Quebec: Pro-choice Practice ................................................................................................... 197
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Aboriginal Women and Access to Abortion Services ............................................................ 199
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 201
Chapter 8. Never Going Back: Women’s Experiences of Citizenship in Canada After
Morgentaler (1988) ..................................................................................................................... 204
Women’s Experiences of Citizenship ..................................................................................... 206
New Brunswick ................................................................................................................... 206
Ontario ................................................................................................................................ 207
Quebec ................................................................................................................................ 208
Moving Forward ..................................................................................................................... 209
Future Research ...................................................................................................................... 217
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 219
References ................................................................................................................................... 221
Original Research ................................................................................................................... 231
Appendix A. GREB Letter .......................................................................................................... 234
Appendix B. Letter of Information for Interviewees .................................................................. 235
Appendix C. Consent Form for Interviewees ............................................................................. 236
Appendix D. Recruitment Email Template ................................................................................ 237
Appendix E. Prevalence of Abortion by Province and Facility .................................................. 238
Appendix F. Interviewee Descriptions ....................................................................................... 243
Appendix G. Anti-Choice Private Member Bills and Motions Introduced in Canada Since 1987
..................................................................................................................................................... 247
Appendix H. Legislative Timelines ............................................................................................ 253
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Glossary of Acronyms
ARCC. Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.
CARAL. Canadian Abortion Rights Action League.
CFC. Canadians for Choice.
CIHI. Canadian Institute for Health Information.
CLSC. Des Centres Locaux des Services Communautaries (Local Community Service Centres).
CMA. Canadian Medical Association.
CMQ. Collège des médecins du Québec (College of Physicians of Quebec).
CPSNB. College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick.
CPSO. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
FQPN. Fédération du Québec pour le Planning des Naissances (Quebec Federation for Planned
Pregnancy).
MPP. Member of Provincial Parliament.
MLA. Member of the Legislative Assembly.
NAF. National Abortion Federation.
NDP. New Democratic Party.
PM. Prime Minister.
TAC. Therapeutic Abortion Committee.
SOGC. Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
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Description:ii Abstract This dissertation explores the regulation of abortion in Canada following the landmark R v Morgentaler decision (1988), which struck down Canada’s
