'Watching rights erode away': U.S. woman moving to B.C. over abortion rights

A Virginia woman is packing up her life and moving her family to Vancouver Island in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Jo Kreyling says she's moving to Nanaimo, B.C., because she and her husband want a better life for their young child.

"People were kind of watching rights erode away," Kreyling told CTV News on Thursday.

One of those rights includes the right to choose an abortion.

"People in a situation where they may have a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy were having the decisions regarding their pregnancies made by people who medically didn’t even understand those concepts," she said.

While abortion is currently legal in Virginia, Kreyling says she's still concerned about the future and the fragmented range of laws in the U.S.

"Just by crossing state lines, will I be able to get medical assistance? Will I be able to get help if my pregnancy goes wrong?" she said. "It feels dangerous to start trying to have a family."

Abortion-rights protesters fill Indiana Statehouse corridors and cheer outside legislative chambers, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, as lawmakers vote to concur on a near-total abortion ban, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Arleigh Rodgers)

Kreyling, a video game developer, hopes to move to Nanaimo by the spring. She says she understands that moving to Canada is a privilege.

"The thought of a life in Canada has given me more hope than I’ve had all pandemic," she said.

'ALREADY A STRESSED SYSTEM'

Meanwhile, in Nanaimo, a local nurse who works at a clinic that offers abortion services says she expects to see more U.S. residents coming to Canada for help.

"We’re going to see a lot of people crossing a lot of borders to seek abortion care," said Kassidy Delcaro, a nurse at Women's Vita Medical Clinic.

"It’s already a stressed system and it’s already difficult for somebody, even locally, to find abortion care," she said.

Kreyling hopes American abortion rights are re-instated so that others won't have to take such a drastic measure going forward.