Feds Announce Over $4M in Funding for Projects to Increase Abortion Access in Canada

Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 27, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Health Canada has announced that it will be giving over $4 million in funding to two projects that are intended to increase abortion access across Canada for “underserved populations” as part of the federal government’s Sexual Reproductive Health Fund (SRHF) created in 2021.

The total allocation of $4.2 million in federal funding will go toward the University of British Columbia’s Contraception and Abortion Research Team (CART) and the “Access for All Expansion” project being conducted by the organization Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, which describes itself as “Planned Parenthood Canada.”

Over $3.8 million of the funding will go toward CART, while Action Canada will receive around $428,000.

The Liberal government committed $45 million over a three-year term to the SRHF starting in the 2021-22 fiscal year, out of which nearly $39 million has already been committed to various projects. Health Canada provided $3.8 million in 2022 to begin work to improve access to abortion.

The federal government’s 2023 budget renewed and extended this investment with another $36 million over three years, which is set to start in 2024–25.

The May 9 announcement by Marci Ien, the federal minister for women and gender equality and youth, came two days before the National March for Life rally in Ottawa organized by pro-life advocacy groups.

The annual May rally typically attracts thousands of protesters.

Ien also made the announcement on the same day that Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall held a press conference about her private member’s bill titled the “Violence Against Pregnant Women Act.”

Wagantall’s Bill C-311 aims to amend Canada’s Criminal Code to specify that acts of harm or assault against a pregnant woman be considered aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes.

Wagantall commented to reporters about the overlap between her press conference and Ien’s, insinuating that the scheduling choice may have been deliberate and also imploring the Liberal government not to use abortion as a wedge issue.

“It seems interesting, every time I plan a press conference we end up with some competition,” Wagantall said, adding that “we can certainly at any time sit down and discuss and have debate and talk about any issue, that’s our responsibility, but to simply use it as a wedge, Canadians are done with that.”

Wagantall also said Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre supports Bill C-311, while adding that the party will not whip the vote for its members.

“When the leader supports something, that’s significant,” she said. “But it was really important to me that we still make it very clear that this is a vote of conscience.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.