KEY POINTS

  • Canada will allow Americans to get abortions in the country, according to a Canadian minister
  • Abortion is legal in Canada, and the procedure is regulated similarly to other healthcare services
  • Americans who wish to access health services in Canada must pay for those services

Americans can get an abortion in Canada should the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturn Roe v. Wade, Canadian officials said.

"I don't see why we would not [offer abortions]," Canadian parliament member Karina Gould told CBC in an interview Tuesday when asked if American women would be allowed to access abortion in Canada.

"If they, people, come here and need access, certainly, you know, that's a service that would be provided," said Gould, who is also Canada's Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.

Americans who wish to access health care services in Canada will have to pay for those services out of pocket or through their insurance, a spokesperson for Gould told Today’s Parent.

Abortions are legal in Canada, and they are regulated similarly to other healthcare services, CTV News reported. Canadians have a right to access the procedure along with other sexual and reproductive health services under the Canada Health Act.

Gould's remarks came after a leaked SCOTUS draft released by Politico indicated that the American high court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision that guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights.

While a reversal of the ruling would not ban abortion in the US, it would allow states to restrict or even outlaw the procedure, a report by NPR said. Additionally, the move may also weaken reproductive health rights across the world, according to human rights advocates.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would "damage the global perception of the United States" and "set a terrible example that other governments and anti-rights groups could seize upon around the world in a bid to deny the rights of women, girls and other people who can become pregnant," Agnès Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a statement.

In response to the news of the SCOTUS planning to turn down Roe v. Wade, U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to codify the ruling into federal law, Bloomberg reported.

However, the push currently lacks support to be enacted, according to The New York Times.

More than half of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should be upheld, a recently conducted national survey found.

Protestors react outside the U.S. Supreme Court to the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision later this year, in Washington, U.S
Protestors react outside the U.S. Supreme Court to the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision later this year, in Washington, U.S. Reuters / JONATHAN ERNST
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