Why Do We Care About Roe v Wade?
Submitted by Western Canada Region Governor Suzanne Heron
Image courtesy Soroptimist International
Why do we as Canadians care about the U.S. Supreme Court taking away Americans’ right to abortion?
We care because the United States is a global influencer. This emboldens others who would remove a person’s right to control what happens to their own body. Access to safe abortion has been declared as a human right by multiple international courts and bodies.
We wonder who to trust in our own country, among legislators and would-be legislators, who say they support this fundamental right. We care because we know the consequences of this decision. Banning abortion only decreases safe abortions. We grieve for the women and children who are already bearing the health, financial, social and emotional burdens of unwanted, dangerous or unplanned pregnancies.
Our global body, Soroptimist International, takes a human rights stand on all issues. In our Position Paper on Sexual and Reproductive Health, we support “the rights set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women relating to sexual and reproductive health, in particular that women are afforded the ‘rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights.’”
Our Soroptimist Federation, SI of the Americas, has a laser focus on providing access to education for women and girls - the fastest path to economic empowerment. “We have seen firsthand the consequential effects unplanned pregnancy has on a woman's mental and physical health, her educational opportunities, and her future success, as well as the health and economic outcomes for her children. The reversal of Roe v. Wade means that Soroptimist's programs, which improve access to education for women and girls, will be even more important for reducing the probability of unplanned pregnancy and for equipping women and girls to pursue employment whatever their maternal status.”
We Soroptimists in Western Canada will provide tools for girls to realize their own dreams, and to be strong in demand and defence of their own rights. We will propel women into the education they need to reach economic empowerment and equality. We will challenge any attack on women’s human rights. We will care what happens in other countries because to be free and equal, we must all be free and equal.
We urge our members, friends and all who care about human rights to advocate for the full range of reproductive health education and services.