He was acquitted in every case brought against him, and, when he reached the Supreme Court level, the Court repealed the entire abortion law in 1988, stating that the law violated women’s constitutional rights to security of the person, right to life, personal liberty, freedom of conscience, and privacy.2 The government then tried to pass a new abortion law but it failed in the Senate in 1991. [...] There is no Parliamentary obligation to pass a new law.8 The interpretation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, only six years old in 1988, has evolved to the point that it would be extremely difficult for any abortion restriction to pass constitutional muster. [...] Medical protocols are provided by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada and the National Abortion Federation, and most provinces have policies or guidelines promoting safe and accessible abortion care.14 When abortions are illegal, abortion rates remain high According to reported numbers, abortion in Canada has steadily declined since 1997.15 Some of this could be attributable t. [...] While most countries retain abortion in their criminal codes, even countries that have completely decriminalized abortion, such as Australia, have passed civil laws to regulate abortion practice that introduce criteria for patients to meet.19 In Sweden, the civil law legalizing abortion allows abortion on request only to 18 weeks, and the law still rests on a threat of criminal prosecution for doc. [...] The UN's Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health described laws restricting abortion as an abuse of state power.
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