Quebec wants to improve access to abortion services as part of a new plan to counter what the government describes as an erosion of women's rights around the world. Martine Biron, Quebec's minister for the status of women, described the government's $7.5-million plan, published Monday morning, as a bulwark against threats to reproductive rights from south of the border.
She said one-third of Canadian women will have an abortion during their lifetime. "What I want to say to the women of Quebec is that I will protect them," she told reporters during a news conference in Montreal. "Our government is ready to protect the rights of women.
" Biron said there is an overwhelming consensus on abortion in Quebec, with 90 per cent of Quebecers supporting a woman's right to choose. But the 2022 United States Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has mobilized anti-choice groups in Quebec and the rest of Canada, according to the government's 19-page action plan.
"The rights of women are always fragile," Biron said. "They must be constantly vigilant." Her plan focuses on improving abortion services outside Montreal, where she said Quebecers sometimes wait up to five weeks before being able to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
The government wants to increase access to abortion pills, in part by creating a telehealth service to speed up the process, especially for people who live far from abortion clinics. Biron said she wants the service to be up and running by 2027. According to th.