Photo Credit: Adamson, Nancy. Pro-Choice Demonstrators in Support of Legal Abortion, Toronto (c.1980s). CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections.
Did you know that access to safe & legal abortion in Canada began with women's deployment of radical, militant protest tactics?
In April of 1970, the Vancouver Women's Caucus (VWC) set out on Canada's first ever national pro-choice protest. Commencing their journey in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 27th, members of the Abortion Caravan arrived in Ottawa on Mother's Day weekend. In the capital, they began an extended program of education, lobbying, and militant direct action, culminating in their invasion of the House of Commons on May 11th.
Left: Levine, Helen. "The Women are Coming" Abortion Caravan poster (1970). From the Helen Levine fonds (10-006) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
The VCW left Vancouver in a Volkswagen van with a coffin strapped to the roof; a symbol for the number of women who died annually due to illegal, unsafe abortions. Such practices were the only recourse for many pregnant people, and poor women were especially affected by legislation that restricted access to reproductive health care. In the magazine, This Paper Belongs to the People, published on April 29th, 1970, the VCW declared: "We will place this coffin, and with it the responsibility for the death of our sisters, at the feet of the men who make the laws of this country."
Right: Power to the People vol. 1, no. 15 (April 1970). Cover illustration. From the Ottawa Women's Place fonds (10-020) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
According to historian Shannon Stettner, the VCW grew out of women's' membership in New Left groups, such as the Combined Universities Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CUCND) and other organizations which opposed the U.S. War in Vietnam. While the Abortion Caravan drew hundreds of supporters along the way, most participants were young white women, in their early to mid-twenties. However, like the wider anti-war movement, Caravan organizers held socialist viewpoints that fell outside the parameters of mainstream Canadian feminism (Stettner 424-427).
Informing the Abortion Caravan's tactics and rhetoric, the movement against U.S. imperialism became increasingly militant following then-president Richard Nixon's invasion of Cambodia and the Kent State Massacre in May of 1970. In fact, just a few weeks prior to the infamous "Declaration of a State of War" by the Weather Underground (a group of U.S. radicals seeking to revolutionize American society through armed propaganda), the Abortion Caravan published its own declaration of "war" on the Canadian government, which they mailed to then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and other Members of Parliament:
"WE CHARGE THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA... of being responsible for the MURDER BY ABORTION OF 2,000 CANADIAN WOMEN, who enter hospitals for treatment of complications from illegal abortions... If another country murdered 2,000 Canadian WOMEN, the Canadian Government would take immediate steps to stop the murders and should the murdering not be stopped, the Government of Canada would probably call an Emergency meeting and could quite conceivably declare war on that country. Laws can be changed very quickly in wartime, in a state of national emergency. The deaths of thousands of women and the tragedy of unwanted pregnancies constitute such an emergency. We, therefore, demand that an Emergency Meeting be called to end such carnage of Canadian women by illegal abortion...We consider the government of Canada is in a state of war with the women of Canada..."
"...If steps are not taken to implement our demands by May 11, 1970 at 3:00 pm, we will be forced to respond by declaring war on the Canadian government."
Left: "This Uterus is not Government Property," small cardboard sign (c.1968-1970). From the Helen Levine fonds (10-006) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Above: Vancouver Women's Caucus qtd. in Stettner, Shannon. "We Are Forced to Declare War," 423-441.
What follows is the list of demands that Caravan organizers brought to the federal government:
As demonstrated by the radical suggestion that corporate profits be taxed to fund reproductive healthcare, the Abortion Caravan's demands were filtered through a socialist, class-based perspective. The VCW stressed that amendments made in August 1969 to the Criminal Code, which permitted abortion to protect the mother's health, remained unnecessarily restrictive. Such laws, they argued, made reproductive autonomy possible for only "a few middle and upper class women," and discriminated against "poor, working class, and young single women."
Left: People for a Sane Society. "Abortion is Our Right." Flyer (May 1970). From the Ottawa Women's Place fonds (10-020) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
The August 1969 amendments stipulated that legal abortions could only be performed when requested by a woman's doctor and approved by a hospital committee of three. As such, the process for procuring an abortion was expensive, time consuming, and ceded control of women's bodies to predominantly male doctors. In a press briefing released in May 1970, Caravan organizers argued that the "reformed" law "has done nothing but give doctors the right to do as THEY wish. If these men think that young girls should be punished for being pregnant, they can say no to an abortion. If THEY, who have never been pregnant or missed one menstrual period in their lives, think that an abortion is more 'traumatic' than bearing an unwanted child, they can say no."
Right: Women's Liberation. "Abortion Caravan." Article in Power to the People vol. 1, no. 15 (April 1970). From the Ottawa Women's Place fonds (10-020) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
While the Caravan focused primarily on the necessity for "abortion on demand" provided by free, community-controlled clinics, they simultaneously denounced the Trudeau government's hypocrisy for laws which allowed for the forced sterilization of marginalized groups. These laws, such as the Sexual Sterilization Acts implemented in Alberta and BC in the first half of the 20th century, targeted poor, Black, and Indigenous peoples. As such, they fell in step with a wider eugenicist movement that encouraged white, middle and upper-class women's reproduction, and enlisted their support to curb the reproduction of "others."
Although the term "intersectionality" had not yet been popularized in feminist discourse, Caravan organizers viewed reproductive autonomy as an issue of racial and international justice (see left).
Left: Vancouver Women's Caucus. "Brief of the Abortion Caravan" (May 1970). From the Ottawa Women's Place fonds (10-020) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Upon arrival in Ottawa, on May 9th, 1970, the Abortion Caravan staged protests on Parliament Hill and outside Prime Minister Trudeau's residence at 24 Sussex Drive. Pushing past RCMP guards, they burned an effigy of the Prime Minister and left their coffin on his front doorstep. Emphasizing the coffin's symbolic function, Caravaner Margo Dunn made the following statement:
[CW: The following quotation contains graphic descriptions of illegal abortion]
"There are garbage bags on top of that coffin. These are used to pack the uterus to induce labor. Since they are not sterile, they often cause massive infection, resulting in sterilization, permanent disability, or death.... There are knitting needles on top of that coffin. These are used to put in the vagina in order to pierce the uterus. Severe bleeding results.... There is a bottle which is a container of Lysol, on top of that coffin. When used for cleaning, it is in solution. Women seeking to abort themselves inject it full strength into their vaginas. This results in severe burning of tissues, hemorrhage, and shock. Death comes within a matter of minutes. Intense, agonizing pain is suffered until the time of death.... There is part of a vacuum cleaner on top of that coffin. The hose is placed in the vagina in order to extract the fetus, but results in the whole uterus being sucked from the pelvic cavity."
Above: Dunn, Margo qtd. in Stettner, Shannon. "We Are Forced to Declare War," 436-437.
Two days later, after federal politicians' refusal to meet with the Caravan or to respond to their demands, organizers used non-violent direct action to publicize their cause and launched an unprecedented, groundbreaking protest against the Canadian government. Although these women were subject to RCMP surveillance for the entirety of their journey, their militancy shocked law enforcement and destabilized efforts to contain the Caravan's political impact. As reported by Clyde Sanger of the Globe and Mail, "Thirty women from the Cross-Canada Abortion Caravan, some of them chained to their seats, created such a disturbance inside the House of Commons yesterday that Speaker Lucien Lamoureux first ordered the galleries cleared and then adjourned House business for 28 minutes."
Earlier that day, Caravaners had entered the House of Commons using forged passes, chained themselves to their seats using choker chains, wires, and bicycle padlocks, and began shouting slogans such as "Free Abortion on Demand," "We Want Control of Our Bodies," and "No More Women Will Die." Sanger further reported that "One had apparently connected a microphone to the simultaneous translation system connected to every gallery seat, adding an electronic assist to the din her companions were creating with pure lung power... As soon as the first demonstrator was grabbed from the public gallery and hustled to the door, another stood up in the Opposition gallery... to add her voice. As guards tackled her, others stood up in the Government and ladies' galleries. One guard said, 'they were popping up all over the place.'" According to some sources, one of the Caravaners hurled a "water bomb" (in reality, a water balloon) onto the House floor, which failed to explode. This was the first time in Canadian history that a group of protesters succeeded in shutting down Parliament.
While the protest was not an instantaneous success, the Abortion Caravan laid the groundwork for further challenges to the Criminal Code, and provided the pro-choice movement with language and analysis that coalesced around women's right to control their own bodies. These later organizations focused primarily on women's "Right to Choose" as opposed to the more socialist-leaning "Free Abortion on Demand." However, their demands, rhetoric, and tactics were undoubtedly shaped by the VWC 's Abortion Caravan, which succeeded spectacularly in bringing the question of women's reproductive autonomy into the national conversation.
Abortion Information and Referral Services, which were set up across Canada in the 1970s, represent just one example of the VCW's influence. According to historians Christabelle Sethna and Steve Hewitt, "some VWC members set up an abortion referral service that ferried pregnant women to doctors willing to perform underground abortions." It is difficult to determine if the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL) Referral Service, pictured left, connected women to licensed practitioners willing to perform illegal, underground abortions. However, they did continue the VCW's tradition of providing information directly to abortion-seekers, and helped women to secure necessary, non-judgemental reproductive health care.
Left: Canadian Abortion Rights Action League. "An Abortion Information and Referral Service." Pamphlet (c.1979-1981). From the CWMA collection (10-001) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
CARAL, originally called the Canadian Association for Repeal of the Abortion Law, was formed in response to the arrest and incarceration of Dr. Henry Morgentaler in 1974. In the 1970s, Dr. Morgentaler was repeatedly tried and once jailed for providing safe, yet illegal abortions from his free-standing clinic in Montreal. Like the VCW, Morgentaler not only believed in a woman's right to choose abortion, but viewed access to contraception as a fundamental aspect of reproductive health care. Morgentaler was one of the first Canadian doctors to perform vasectomies, insert IUDs, and provide unmarried women with birth control before it became legal to do so under Bill C-150 in 1969 (this is the same bill that allowed for "therapeutic abortion," but only with doctor and hospital board approval).
In 1969, Dr. Morgentaler opened his first clinic in Montreal, performing abortions in open defiance of the law. The following year, Montreal city police raided his clinic, kicking off 20 years of legal battles that would take place in provincial and federal courts. From 1969 and 1974, Morgentaler continued to provide thousands of safe abortions. Between 1973 and 1975, he was tried and acquitted in three separate jury trials. In the course of his second trial in 1974, however, the jury's acquittal was overturned by five judges on the Quebec Court of Appeal. Morgentaler was subsequently charged and served 10 months of an 18-year sentence at Montreal's Bordeaux Jail. During this time, the women of CARAL and other pro-choice activists publicized Morgentaler's story, and fought for women's control over their own reproductive lives. Women's liberation organizations also sought to expose the struggles of women internationally, as seen in the bulletin on the left released by the Toronto-based Wages for Housework Committee.
Left: Wages for Housework Committee. "Communique on the Abortion Movement in Italy" (1976). From the CWMA collection (10-001) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Upon his release from prison in 1976, Morgentaler challenged the abortion law in the Supreme Court of Canada in Morgentaler v. The Queen. Though the challenge was ultimately unsuccessful, the tide of public opinion was already changing in favour of the right to choose, thanks to the education, demonstration, and lobbying efforts of the VCW, CARAL, and other pro-choice organizations.
Right: Abortion and Contraception Committee of Toronto. Flyer (1977). From the CWMA collection (10-001) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Dr. Morgentaler also continued to openly challenge the law by performing abortions and training other doctors in the procedure. Morgentaler, a Polish-Jewish immigrant, and survivor of Dachau concentration camp, strongly believed in women's right to control their own health and bodies. In 1983, he opened two other women's health clinics in Winnipeg and Toronto. For the next 15 years, Morgentaler operated clinics in under-served communities across the country, at great personal and professional risk.
Cleroux, Richard. "Abortion clinic staying closed, minister vows." The Globe & Mail (14 September 1983). From the CWMA collection (10-001) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Given that the United States Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022, it may surprise readers to learn that Canadian women were forced to exodus to the U.S. to receive necessary reproductive health care throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s. Despite the efforts of groups and doctors like Morgentaler, dispatches by CARAL and the ACCT, like those above illustrate that exodus was necessary for many people carrying unwanted pregnancies under Canada's so-called "liberalized" abortion laws. In spite of federal laws which made therapeutic abortion technically available in Canada, pro-choice organizations had to contend with doctors and board members personally opposed to abortion, or local hospitals that chose not to establish abortion boards and thus were not required to perform the procedure. Abortions were especially difficult to obtain on the East and West coasts and in rural areas outside of major Metropolitan cities. Anti-abortion lobbyists and politicians sought to limit this access even further:
Between 1983 and the landmark Supreme Court case R v Morgentaler in 1988, Morgentaler and his clinics were repeatedly attacked by members of the anti-choice movement. During this time, Morgentaler and other doctors who provided abortions experienced frequent violence, harassment, and death threats. For example, in 1983, Morgentaler was attacked with garden shears outside of his Toronto clinic (Fortunately, however, the attack was blocked by pro-choice activist Judy Rebick). In that same year, the clinic was firebombed, nearly destroying the neighboring Toronto Women's Bookstore. Such attacks on doctors and women's health clinics continued into the 1990s and early 2000s.
Correspondingly, in 1983, Toronto police raided Henry Morgentaler's newly opened clinic, taking equipment, procedural documents, and patient files. In Winnipeg, Morgentaler's clinic was also raided on two subsequent occasions. Following the Toronto raid, Morgentaler and two of his colleagues were charged with providing illegal abortions. While a jury acquitted Morgentaler, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reversed this decision. So, Morgentaler, once again, challenged the reversal at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Right: Photographer Unknown. Raid on Morgentaler Clinic. July 1983. CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections
Photographer Unknown. Raid on Morgentaler Clinic. July 1983. CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections.
Photo Credit: Adamson, Nancy. Pro-Choice Demonstrators in Support of Legal Abortion, Toronto (c.1980s) CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections.
Slotnick, Lorne. "Decision on abortion should be patient's, Canadian poll finds." The Globe & Mail (23 September 1982). From the CWMA collection (10-001) at University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections.
Despite increasing violence against abortion providers, a 1982 Gallup poll conducted using CARAL funds found that most Canadians supported the right to choose. Yet it would take another five years for the law to catch up with public opinion: In the landmark ruling R v Morgentaler in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that Canada's abortion law was unconstitutional, and in violation of Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees "life, liberty and security of person." According to Chief Justice Brian Dickson, "Forcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction, to carry a fetus to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations, is a profound interference with a woman's body and thus a violation of her security of the person." Abortion was struck from the Criminal Code.
Thus, the Supreme Court vindicated the VCW nearly eighteen years after the Abortion Caravan chained themselves to gallery seats in the House of Commons. In 1995, their call for “free abortion demand” was answered when the procedure was added to the Canada Health Act as an essential medical service. This meant that abortion would henceforth be covered by health insurance.
In spite of this ruling, access to abortion continued (and continues) to face legal challenges, including the Supreme Court cases Borowski v Canada and Tremblay v Daigle in 1989, during which anti-choice advocates attempted to argue for "fetal rights" and "father's rights," respectively. Likewise, throughout the 1990s, provincial governments in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Alberta attempted to criminalize abortion and to ban the establishment of private clinics. To this day, in 2022, pregnant people trying to obtain an abortion face numerous barriers: In New Brunswick, for example, Medicare will only cover abortions if performed in a hospital, and only three hospitals in the province are willing to offer the procedure (Urquhart).
Photo Credit: Adamson, Nancy. Pro-Choice Demonstrators in Support of Legal Abortion, Toronto (c.1980s) CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections.
Photo Credit: Adamson, Nancy. Pro-Choice Demonstrators in Support of Legal Abortion, Toronto (c.1980s) CWMA Collection (10-001) © Archives and Special Collections.
Given that the fight for abortion access is ongoing in many parts of Canada, it is important to remember the history of the pro-choice movement in this country. At its root, this movement not only addressed the right to safe and legal abortion, but fought for increased access to contraceptives and against the forced sterilization of Indigenous and other marginalized people. In 1970, the VCW argued that poor, rural women suffered the most from limited access to abortion and contraceptives. This continues to be true. We must take inspiration and go further to guarantee that all Canadians capable of pregnancy are guaranteed “life, liberty and security of person.”
For further discussion using this exhibit, read through and answer the questions below:
1. How did Canadian pro-choice activists secure access to abortion through direct action, militant protest, and the determined violation of laws that they deemed unjust?
2. Civil disobedience refers to the refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws. When is civil disobedience justified, or alternatively, what kinds of civil disobedience do you consider justified?
3. Could pro-choice activists have succeeded in expanding access to abortion in Canada through legal means? When (if ever) should protesters be forced to adhere to the letter of the law?
Copyright Disclaimer: Permission to display and share this content has been obtained where possible, however, the University of Ottawa does not represent or guarantee this to be the case for every individual item. You agree that any use of this content will be at your sole risk, and that the University of Ottawa will not be responsible or liable for any damages that may occur due to your use. If you are the owner of content that you believe is improperly attributed or being used without permission, please contact ddac@uottawa.ca with your detailed concerns.
Exhibit created by: Meghan Tibbits-Lamirande (Archival Assistant) with special thanks to Kristen Mercier and Mary Catherine Shea.
references
"Abortion rights: significant moments in Canadian history." CBC News (13 Jan 2009). https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/abortion-rights-significant-moments-in-canadian-history-1.787212
Action Canada. "The 1970 Abortion Caravan" Celebrating 50 Years." Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. https://www.actioncanadashr.org/resources/reports-analysis
"Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL)." Rise Up! A Digital Archive of Feminist Action. https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/activism/organizations/canadian-abortion-rights-action-league-association-caral/
Bell, Gordon R., ed. "Absurdity over abortions." Victoria Times (28 March 1980).
Cleroux, Richard. "Abortion clinic staying closed, minister vows." The Globe & Mail (14 September 1983).
Jeffrey, John. "Ganging up on a hospital." The Globe & Mail (4 July 1981).
McMahen, Ben. The Eugenics Archives. https://eugenicsarchive.ca/
"Morgentaler attacked at abortion clinic opening." CBC Archives. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1606939114
Ormsby, Mary. "The 'Abortion Caravan' succeeded. Or did it?" The Toronto Star (30 May 2010).
Rands, Jean and Toms, Marcy, et al. Vancouver Women's Caucus: A Women's Liberation History Project. https://www.vancouverwomenscaucus.ca
Sanger, Charles. "Angry, shouting women disrupt house sitting." The Globe and Mail (12 May, 1970).
Sethna, Christabelle. "The Abortion Caravan and RCMP Surveillance." Active History (19 May 2015) http://activehistory.ca/2015/05/the-abortion-caravan-and-rcmp-surveillance/
Sethna, Christabelle and Hewitt, Steve. “Clandestine Operations: The VWC, the Abortion Caravan and the RCMP,” Canadian Historical Review 90, 3 (2009): 463-496.
Slotnick, Lorne. "Decision on abortion should be patient's, Canadian poll finds." The Globe & Mail (23 September 1982).
Stettner, Shannon. "“We Are Forced to Declare War”: Linkages Between the 1970 Abortion Caravan and Women's Anti-Vietnam War Activism." Social History 46, 92 (2013) 423-441.
Urquhart, Mia. "Abortion rights activists watching case before N.B. courts." CBC News (5 May 2022) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/abortion-case-nb-court-1.6441053
Wasserlein, Frances Jane. "An arrow aimed at the heart: The Vancouver Women's Caucus and the Abortion Campaign, 1969-1971." July 1990. Simon Fraser University. PhD Dissertation.
If you are the owner of content that you believe has been improperly attributed or is being used without permission, please get in touch by email: arcs@uottawa.ca.
You can also fill out the Request for Takedown of Library Materials and Archives:
https://copyright.uottawa.ca/additional-resources/request-takedown