Autonomy and rights: How MAID and abortion intersect
Webinars | October 30, 2024
Autonomy and rights: How MAID and abortion intersect
In 1988, Canada experienced a pivotal shift when the ruling in R. v. Morgentaler deemed the abortion law at the time to be unconstitutional. Close to thirty years later, the issue of bodily autonomy was top of mind once again as the Carter case challenging the prohibition of medical assistance in dying (MAID) made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Both laws were struck down.
Joyce Arthur has been an abortion rights activist for 36 years. She is the founder and Executive Director of Canada’s national pro-choice group, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, which protects the legal right to abortion on request and works to improve access to quality abortion services. Before founding ARCC in 2005, she ran the Pro-Choice Action Network in British Columbia for 10 years where she produced the national newsletter Pro-Choice Press. Arthur has written hundreds of articles on abortion and other political and social justice issues, and is a media spokesperson and international speaker.
Prof. Daphne Gilbert specializes in teaching criminal and constitutional law, including courses in Criminal Law and Procedure, American Constitutional Law, and Advanced Sexual Assault law. Her research interests lie primarily in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with a particular emphasis on equality rights, reproductive rights, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and sexual violence. Her most recent work considers the impact of physician and institutional conscience protections on access to MAID and abortion in Canada. She is President of the Board of “Women Help Women,” an international abortion service provider and a Board member of International Planned Parenthood Federation Canada.
Dr. Ellen Wiebe is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. After 30 years of full-service family practice, she now restricts her practice to women’s health and assisted death. She is the Co- Director of Willow Clinic in Vancouver and she is a board member and the research director of the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP).
