B.C. nurse 'heartbroken' over U.S. abortion ruling highlights ways to support Canadian reproductive rights
A nurse and sexual health educator from Nanaimo, B.C., says she's "heartbroken" about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn its Roe V. Wade ruling, allowing for individual states to ban abortions.
Friday's vote could trigger abortion bans in roughly half of all U.S. states.
"I almost didn't believe it when I saw," said Nanaimo nurse Kassidy Delcaro. "It's really heartbreaking for everybody involved – all the providers, all the patients, it's heartbreaking."
Delcaro says the U.S. Supreme Court's decision won't stop women from getting abortions, but it will stop safe abortions from happening.
She added that the ruling will disproportionally impact minorities as well.
"I think it's just an overall feeling of powerlessness and loss of control that we're feeling right now," she said.
"As the world has continued we've gained a lot of rights [for women] in a lot of ways, but the fact that there's this really big one that they took away so easily, it's scary," said Delcaro.
The Nanaimo nurse says she's also concerned that the ruling endorses a sentiment that abortions are immoral.
"It's kind of giving [supporters] confirmation that it is wrong," she said. "It's the 21st century, it's ridiculous that I'm speaking here."
While the ruling was only made official Friday morning, Delcaro says there's already a local website which has resources on how to support and improve reproductive rights in Canada.
The website is home to what it calls the B.C. Reproductive Justice Manifesto, which lays out ways the provincial and federal governments could improve access, funding and protection for abortion and contraceptive services in B.C. and Canada.
"There's a lot of different things you can sign, a lot of differing organizations you can sign up for," said Delcaro.
"I think just knowing that there's a huge amount of people in a lot of different groups, and lot of different people and providers who are going to keep fighting for this right [is important]," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.