Press Conference: Abortion and the G8 Summit

This week, we held a press conference in Ottawa with other leading Canadian women’s and reproductive rights organizations to address family planning and abortion care in the G8 maternal and child health initiative. Following the press conference, we delivered letters signed by more than 100 international organizations and government officials from the G8 and other countries to Prime Minister Harper.

At the press conference, I issued the following statement :

Since Prime Minister Harper announced that maternal health would be a development priority at the upcoming G8 Summit, Harper and members of his cabinet, have publicly stated that the government’s maternal health strategy will not address unsafe abortions in developing countries or support access to family planning and contraceptives. Despite public outcry concerning the government’s remarks, and recommendations from leading scientific bodies and international aid agencies, Harper refuses to discuss including access to safe abortion care in Canada's G8 Health Initiative.

As we have seen in Canada and other countries throughout the world, access to safe, legal abortion care preserves women’s health and saves women’s lives.

We have reached out to organizations from the G8 and other countries, and more than 100 groups have joined us in signing a letter to Prime Minister Harper, urging him to include access to safe abortion care in the G8 maternal and child health initiative.

Wednesday's Words from Women

Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we will be featuring real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.


I am a mother of two young children, and I have cervical cancer. I was taking birth control pills as directed, and never missed a dose. I went to the clinic for my pre-op for cancer and was told that I was pregnant and couldn’t get the surgery I needed for my cancer. I need to be healthy and cancer-free for the two children I have.

-- Submitted by Cierra* through a member clinic


I am a college student and a waitress, and both my parents have been laid off, so there’s no insurance. I could never afford the medical bills. It put a lot of stress on my fiancé and me as we knew we couldn’t afford to raise a child. We fought a lot more than usual. I contacted the clinic and went in for an informational visit. They made me feel right at home, and they and the Hotline helped me more than they could know—they saved my relationship, my career, and my life. Thank you so much!

--Submitted by Helen* through a member clinic

--*Names changed to protect patient privacy