With the news of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the US, many Canadians are rightfully starting to question the security of the right to choose in Canada. It seems dystopian that these rulings are being enacted in a country we neighbour, but we have been reassured that this right will be upheld in Canada. 

The Alberta Party strongly believes, and always will, that a person has autonomy over their own body. Access to safe abortion is health care, plain and simple.  

The Alberta Party puts people first, and we protect human rights. Today, some parts of our province have restricted access to reproductive health services - especially in remote, rural, and Indigenous communities. An Alberta Party government will work to improve accessibility to these services to our communities most in need and be fierce advocates for a woman’s right to choose at the federal level. 

Most importantly, we need to recognize that revoking access to these services does not stop abortions. Restricting access to reproductive health options for people forces women to seek out unsafe and non-medical abortions, which have immensely higher health risks. The decision to revoke and restrict these rights is steeped in privilege, further marginalizing those that do not have the resources to travel for abortions, and could be a death sentence for pregnant women with serious complications. It is better for the health and safety of our communities, and upholds the protection of our human rights, that a woman has the right to choose what to do with their own body.  

We feel deeply for the millions of women in the United States impacted by this ruling, the millions of women in Canada that are worried about this on our soil, and the millions of women around the world who fought so hard to gain these rights. We cannot let this happen in Alberta. The Alberta Party will always fight for choice, safe access, and protection of women’s rights.