{"id":860,"date":"2025-04-24T15:12:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T19:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/?post_type=csat-story-chapter&p=860"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T01:43:05","slug":"1970s-1980s-abortion-rights-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"csat-story-chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/en\/story\/1970s-1980s-abortion-rights-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"1970s-1980s – Abortion Rights in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Access to abortion services is an indicator of a society\u2019s attitude toward women and their right to reproductive choice.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\r\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

― Dr. Marion Powell on women\u2019s access to abortion services<\/cite>\r\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\r\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\r\r\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\n\t
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While abortion and birth control are different, they are both part of reproductive health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Marion Powell believed that safe abortions should be available to all women in Canada. She also stressed that it should not be a substitute for contraception.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoir la vid\u00e9o — Dr. Marion Powell talks about influencing abortion law in Canada <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Black\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Listen to Dr. Marion Powell talk about how her work in reproductive health and rights helped to change abortion law in Canada.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tD\u00e9tails de l’image — <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\"A\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\u00ab\u00a0Abortion: A Study\u00a0\u00bb published by the United Church of Canada, 1971.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t
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When birth control was legalized in Canada in 1969, abortion laws also changed. Abortion was now legal in Canada under special circumstances. It was called therapeutic abortion. A woman could legally end her pregnancy at an accredited hospital by a qualified medical practitioner if she met the strict criteria set out by the hospital\u2019s therapeutic abortion committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some were quick to point out that the therapeutic abortion system did not provide equal access to all women. One of its most vocal critics was Dr. Powell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she explained, \u201cI feel such committees are often a farce. There is no appeal to their decision\u201d. The wait times for a decision were lengthy. There were too few accredited hospitals in some parts of Canada. Some doctors refused to refer women to hospitals that offered therapeutic abortions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t

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In 1975, Dr. Powell was appointed to a three-person committee by the Canadian government to study abortion law. The committee released its findings in the Report of the Committee on the Operation of the Abortion Law<\/em> (also called The Badgley Report<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1986, Dr. Powell was asked by the Ontario government to study abortion services in the province. Her Report on Therapeutic Abortion Services in Ontario<\/em> (also called The Powell Report<\/em>) was released in January 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Powell would help change abortion law in Canada. Her reports influenced the Supreme Court\u2019s decision that struck down Canadian abortion law on January 28, 1988.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t

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Pro Choice Abortion Rights buttons, 199-.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tD\u00e9tails de l’image —<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"White\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tD\u00e9tails de l’image —<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cover\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tD\u00e9tails de l’image —<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"First\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tGalerie compl\u00e8te<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":2698,"template":"","class_list":["post-860","csat-story-chapter","type-csat-story-chapter","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":860,"fr":3302},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/csat-story-chapter"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2697,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/csat-story-chapter\/860\/revisions\/2697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.histoiresdecheznous.ca\/v3\/dr-marion-powell-canada-birth-control_regulation-des-naissances\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}