Barriers to access to abortion through a legal lens.

Introduction In addressing whether the procedure for obtaining abortions was operating equitably across Canada, the 1977 Badgley Report concluded that for many women, access to abortion was “practically illusory.” Sadly, although abortion on request became legally permissible for Canadian women in 1988, access to a safe and legal abortion remains practically illusory for many women today. A woman seeking an abortion in Canada must overcome numerous barriers. She must fi nd a way to secure for herself some of the limited resources that our health care system provides for abortion. She must also expend her own, often scarce, personal resources: her time, her money, and her emotional energy. Access is also compromised by other factors such as the lack of information, support, and privacy. In this paper, we will examine both legal and non-legal barriers to abortion through a legal lens. That is, we will provide a comprehensive description of the multitude of systemic, personal, and other barriers that have been identifi ed in various places in the literature and then explore ways in which law could be used to deconstruct these barriers. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of legal strategies aimed at achieving meaningful access to abortion for all women in Canada.