Abortion in Canada

Common card · No. 394544

Abortion in Canada is legal throughout pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. While some restrictions exist, Canada is one of the few nations with no criminal restrictions on abortion. Access to services and resources varies by region, as abortion is subject to provincial healthcare regulatory rules and guidelines for physicians. No jurisdiction offers abortion on request at 24 weeks and beyond, although there are exceptions for certain medical complications. Formally banned in 1869, abortion remained illegal in Canadian law for the next 100 years. In 1969, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69 legalized therapeutic abortions, as long as a committee of doctors certified that continuing the pregnancy would likely endanger the woman's life or health. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Morgentaler that the existing law was unconstitutional, and struck down the...

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