Research Article
1 December 2011

‘Lonely, tragic, but legally necessary pilgrimages’: Transnational Abortion Travel in the 1970s

Publication: Canadian Historical Review
Volume 92, Number 4

Abstract:

Abstract:

This article explores the work of the Calgary Birth Control Association with a particular focus on their referral service to help Albertan women obtain abortions in Seattle. The fact that Canadian women were travelling to the United States for abortions highlights the shortcomings of the Canadian health-care system and the legal changes in the 1969 omnibus bill. Cross-border travel is also compelling evidence for the argument that reproductive rights are an international issue. More particularly, this study demonstrates the tensions that reproductive-rights activists faced in addressing the needs of individual women vs the long-term objective of changing the laws and improving accessibility.

Résumé :

Cet article analyse les initiatives de la Calgary Birth Control Association, ciblant tout particulièrement ses services de référence destinés à aider les Albertaines à se faire avorter à Seattle. Le fait que les Canadiennes devaient aller aux États-Unis pour se faire avorter met en relief les carences du système canadien de soins de santé et les changements légaux apportés à la loi omnibus de 1969. Ces voyages outre-frontière fournissent la preuve indéniable que les droits en matière de reproduction sont une question internationale. Plus précisément, cette étude fait ressortir les tensions avec lesquelles les activistes, qui défendent les droits de reproduction, ont du composer en répondant aux besoins des femmes, en opposition à l'objectif à long terme de changer la loi et d'améliorer l'accès à l'avortement.

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Published In

Go to Canadian Historical Review
Canadian Historical Review
Volume 92Number 4December 2011
Pages: 637 - 664

History

Published online: 1 December 2011
Published in print: December 2011

Keywords:

  1. Canada
  2. women
  3. reproductive rights
  4. social movements
  5. activism
  6. 1970s
  7. transnational
  8. regional

Mots clés :

  1. Canada
  2. femmes
  3. droits en matière de reproduction
  4. mouvements sociaux
  5. activisme
  6. années 1970
  7. transnational
  8. régional

Authors

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Beth Palmer
Biography: Beth Palmer is a doctoral candidate in the History Department at York University. Her thesis examines the abortion movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Beth Palmer est candidate au doctorat au département d'histoire de l'Université York. Sa thèse examine le mouvement en faveur de l'avortement à la fin des années 1960 et au début des années 1970.

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Beth Palmer
Canadian Historical Review 2011 92:4, 637-664

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