Manitobans rally in support of abortion access amid possible overturning of Roe v. Wade

Dozens of people turned up at the Manitoba Legislature on Sunday to rally for people's right to access safe abortions in the United States.

The protesters were calling attention to a leaked draft opinion which suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Kat Greer wore a long red dress and a white hat, a nod to Margaret Atwood's book The Handmaid's Tale, which tells the story of a totalitarian state in which many women are forced into sexual slavery to bear children for wealthy families.

"Bodily autonomy is for everyone. This is an egregious human rights violation to remove the right to terminate a pregnancy from someone, and it's our job as human beings to develop empathy with other human beings and stand up for their rights when they're being violated," said Greer, an administrator with Handmaids' Local 204 & 431, a pro-choice group in Manitoba.

Greer says the event was also a chance to speak about access to abortions in Canada, and how the U.S. decision could affect that access for Canadians in the future.

"If you live in northern remote regions, accessing an abortion can be very difficult. P.E.I. does not have elective abortion on the island, and we have a government here in Manitoba that is not properly funding access to abortion," Greer said.

Karen Smith was in the crowd on Sunday, along with her kids, to stand up for the right to choose.

"Being a mother is fundamental to who I am.... But that was my choice, and it should be everybody's choice. We should be able to to to have that choice, too, if I don't want to be a mother, I shouldn't have to be," she said.

"I thought that the work that we did in the '80s had set the stage for freedoms and reproductive rights, and it's shocking to me that we're back here and discussing that it may all be taken away from us." 

NDP House leader and MLA for St. Johns Nahanni Fontaine attended the rally for those who don't have easy access to abortion here in the province.

"We don't have the infrastructure to make sure that every single woman and gender diverse folk that need Mifegymiso or surgical abortion have access to it," she said.

A provincial spokesperson says anyone with a prescription can go to a pharmacy anywhere in Manitoba and receive Mifegymiso for free with a Manitoba health card.